I Could Have Loved You
by ffviifan
Summary: As the team prepares to face Sephiroth once again, many losses stand in their way. Zack and Tifa are kidnapped and Cloud and Aerith fight to bring them back. But who loves who? And how far will everyone go to keep each other safe? Mostly Cloti, Zerith, and Yuffentine, with some Clerith/ZackxTifa. Also, it's rated T, but there is some strong language.
1. Chapter One

The bar was spotless, a sure sign that Tifa was anxious.

"Where is he?" she thought.

It had been weeks since the blonde had last made an appearance. 17 days to be exact; she was keeping track. She got the broom out to sweep the floor that she had already swept a dozen times. Her hands tightened and she froze as she heard Fenrir pull up outside. A million emotions washed over her at once. Her body was stiff and her face hard when Cloud stepped into the bar. She didn't look at his face. She pretended she didn't know he was there.

"Tifa," he acknowledged her in a gruff voice.

"Cloud."

He stood there shifting his weight from one foot to the other. She tried her best to be upset, but she was so happy to see him in one piece. _At least he came back at all, _she thought. But as she took in his sheepish look and the discomfort he was exuding, she began to question what exactly it was that had been keeping him away all this time.

"So... how have thi-" he began to ask.

"Is that _perfume?!_ Do I smell _perfume?!_" she interrupted him.

Shocked stung in his eyes and his face flushed.

He began stuttering, trying to answer, but Tifa didn't stick around to hear what he had to say. She threw the broom to the ground and ran upstairs. She would have slammed her bedroom door, but she remembered the sleeping kids just in time. She shut the door gently and threw herself onto her bed. She didn't have the strength to resist the falling tears. She never let out a sob, but her body shook with sadness. He had been gone for so long because he had found someone, someone who was probably prettier than Tifa, and sweeter than Tifa, and...

She heard her door creak open and close again. She heard his footsteps come towards her bed. He didn't say a word. She knew he was staring at her, trying to see if she was okay. After a few minutes he walked over to his bed and went to sleep.

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He was making breakfast when she came down the stairs.

"The kids are over at the neighbor's, playing. I hope that's okay."

She nodded.

He brought her a plate of eggs and sat down across from her.

"Listen, Tifa. I ran into Aerith. She's going through a pretty rough time. I guess she's having problems with Zack and -"

"And she needed your _comfort_ right?" Tifa scoffed.

"Don't be like that. Yes. She did. I spent a couple days with her at her mom's place."

"So... because Aerith is going through a rough patch in her relationship with Zack, you felt the need to ignore the kids here who missed you. You were gone for over two weeks, Cloud. I can't keep letting you do this to them. It's not fair."

She got up and dumped her dishes into the sink.

"TIfa... You don't understand what's going on."

She turned on him.

"No! I don't. So if you would be so kind, Mr. Strife, as to explain to me what is going on."

"I can't do that."

"Then screw you!"

She ran out the front door, forgetting that she was still in her black short shorts and white v-neck t-shirt. She didn't really have a plan as to where she was going to go. She made up her mind to go say good morning to the kids when she heard them scream. She took off faster than a gold chocobo. She found Denzel laying on the ground and Marlene being held up by her hair by a man at least four times bigger than Tifa.

"Tifa! Help!" Marlene screamed.

The man dropped the little girl.

"It's about time. I was afraid you weren't going to show up, honey," the man sneered.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"You."

He lunged at her so fast she wasn't sure she had even seen him. Luckily her reflexes were still as sharp as they were when Sephiroth was still around. She jumped out of the way of his fist and pushed her foot straight into his gut. He let out a gasp of air.

"You'll pay for that, sweetie."

Tifa's thoughts were consumed by the young girl and boy not ten feet away.

"Marlene! Run! Get help!"

The man chuckled.

"Yes, little girl. Run along."

Tifa turned her attention back to the man. He charged at her again, this time anticipating her reaction. Instead of jumping out of the way, she stood frozen in her spot, minus the flash of her right arm making contact with the man's jaw. In one swift movement she grabbed a fistful of his hair and brought his head down and her knee up. She felt his nose break on contact. She expected him to slump to the ground. Slump he did, but as soon as she let go of his hair, his arms were around her knees and he lifted her over his shoulder. She struggled to get free, but his arm was as big as she was. She screamed and called out for help.

"Shh, honey. If you're quiet this will go so much more smoothly."

She ignored him and continued to scream for anyone to help.

"Have it your way, then."

And then everything went black for Tifa Lockheart.

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Marlene bursted through the bar doors and straight into Cloud's arms.

"Cloud! Cloud! Hurry! Tifa's in trouble!"

Cloud put the little girl down on the ground and ran out the door. He heard her yelling and followed the sound of her voice. By the time he got there, though, it was too late. She was gone. He cursed out loud and ran over to Denzel's side. He picked up the young boy and took him back to Seventh Heaven. After he tucked him into bed and got Marlene settled down, he called his old friends. Barrett, Cid, Red, Yuffie, Vincent, and Cait all agreed to meet Cloud at the bar. He had begged them to hurry. Before they arrived he had one more call to make. The phone rang enough times to make Cloud uncomfortable.

_Please pick up_, he pleaded in his thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Aerith, they have Tifa."

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She hadn't even opened her eyes when she felt the throbbing pain in her head. She sat up and rubbed the top of her head. When she finally did open her eyes, nothing she saw was even remotely close to being familiar. She was in a dark, cold dungeon, sitting behind bars. There wasn't even electricity; torches were lit all along the walls.

"You finally decide to wake up, Sleeping Beauty?" said a familiar deep voice.

"Zack!?"

She heard his laugh fill the cell. She scrambled over to where she could see the outline of his figure.

"What is going on, Zack? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?"

She heard him sigh.

"I wish I had those answers, babe."

"How long have you been here?"

"I dunno. A few weeks."

They sat in silence. Drips of water were falling somewhere, causing the only sound. After a while, they heard the sound of footsteps. A man similar to the size of the man who attacked Tifa came into view. He was followed by three normal sized men.

"You two are coming with me."

One of the guards unlocked the bars and the men grabbed Zack. He didn't fight or struggle, so Tifa didn't bother to. She knew if Zack wasn't going to mess with them, she sure wasn't either. They tied her hands behind her back and pushed her up a flight of stairs. The light pouring out the open door blinded her. She squinted and tripped. The guard guiding her pushed her forward, only causing her to trip some more.

"Watch where you're going, beautiful," sneered the man.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Zack called.

The big man, who was leading Zack, pulled his head back by his hair and said through clenched teeth, " Watch it, buddy."

They were led into a large lab. Tifa glanced over at Zack, seeing that all the color had drained from his face. Zack knew laboratories and he wasn't the slightest bit fond of them. She longed to comfort her friend. She knew from the stories that Cloud had told her what Zack had been through. They were pushed into an office, where a man sat in a white lab coat.

"My dear, old friends."

Tifa sucked in a gasp of air. Dr. Hojo? But... how?

"Oh, don't look so surprised to see me, Tifa, you know how much I simply can't resist you."

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"So the doctor is at it again?" Barrett yelled.

Cloud had spent the past hour explaining to his friends the situation.

"Yes. It seems that way. It seems Hojo is on a quest to create the perfect human. He's been creating a formula for quite a while. He first got the idea when he met Tifa for the first time. After all she had been through, after all his own son had put her through, she still had the will to live, to fight, and not only fight, but fight hard. He wants to create a race filled with that fire, with that strength. He's using Zack for the heightened senses, for the battle reflexes, for his strength and sharp mind. There were a couple other people on the list. Yuffie, you were on there. And Red. But I'm going to do the best I can to keep you safe."

"What I want to know, Blondie, is if you knew that they were coming for Tifa, why didn't you stop them?" Cid hissed.

"Dont put the blame on Cloud! He was with me, trying to figure out how to fix this mess," Aerith said in a raised voice.

"Oh, yeah? A lot of good that did!"

"Okay, okay. Everyone stop. I think we all need good rest. Tomorrow is a big day, and I promise you'll need all of your strength. Aerith, you can take Tifa's bed. Yuffie, you can take the spare bedroom -"

"That won't be necessary. I'll be staying with Yuffie this evening. I'm not letting her out of my sight until this is all over. Cid brought up an excellent point. You obviously can't be relied upon to protect someone else," Vincent snapped. He grabbed a startled Yuffie's hand and practically dragged her out of the Seventh Heaven. Cid left shortly after that, but not before grabbing a bottle of hard liquor from behind the bar. Barrett went with Cid and soon it was just Aerith and Cloud. Cloud let out a sigh a ran a hand through his messy blonde spikes.

"It's not your fault, you know. You did what's best in the long run."

He didn't agree with her at all. He knew he shouldn't have let Tifa out of his sight. He knew that he should have just told her what was going on. But he needed a way of finding Zack, and that meant sacrificing her. His heart hurt. He missed her.

Aerith wrapped her arms around Cloud's shoulders.

"Let's get some sleep."

She kissed him on the cheek and trudged up the stairs.

"Tifa," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."


	2. Chapter Two

A million times had Cloud woken from nightmares about the experiments that were done on him. A million times had Tifa held him in her arms and told him everything was going to be okay, that it was just a dream. A million times had she asked if he wanted to talk about it, and a million times he had said no. And now she understood why.

The pain was so excruciating, flowing through every cell in her body. She could see her blood staining white gloves, she could feel her skin being torn. She heard herself scream and cry out in agony and she heard Zack, too.

Poor Zack, she thought. To have to go through this again...

She felt like she was going to throw up. She had lost so much blood, not only from what was flowing from her open wounds, but the doctor had taken to drawing samples. She was so weak.

"Tomorrow we will begin the mako injections..." she heard him say.

She closed her eyes. She was slowly losing herself. With every cut, with every drop of blood lost, with every passing moment not spent with the kids, or Cloud, Tifa Lockheart was fading away.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Wake up, sunshine."

She rolled over and curled up in a ball. She could tell that it wasn't warm outside of the shelter of her blankets, and there was no way she was getting up yet. Suddenly, she felt the blanket being ripped off of her.

"Aghhh!" she yelled. She rolled over again, a little too far and ended up on the floor. She huffed.

"Vincent!"

The vampire laughed.

"At least you're awake," he said in a gruff voice.

Yuffie got to her feet, and mumbling the entire way, left the room and went to shower.

Vincent laughed to himself. He'd spent the past week sharing hotel rooms with Yuffie as the gang set out on their search for Tifa and Zack. Apparently, Cloud didn't want them all to share a room because it would only be easier to track down Yuffie or Red that way, but Vincent, along with Barrett thought that it was because Cloud wanted a reason to room alone with Aerith. Vincent had volunteered to keep his on the ninja, to which Cloud agreed. Vincent was best suited for protecting the young woman; she behaved more around him.

She's too good for you, Vince, he thought.

The gunman hated to admit it, but he had grown quite fond of the Wuitian. She was so bright, so full of life, and though he was filled with darkness and sorrow, she brought him hope and joy. Still he fought with himself over what was right and what was wrong. Could he make her happy? He highly doubted it.

He heard the shower turn off and a moment later the bathroom door opened. Yuffie walked out in only a towel, her short, dark hair still drenched. Vincent groaned out loud.

"Oh, Vince. I didn't know you were, uh, still in here," she said, her face growing more lovely as a bright shade of pink spread through her cheeks. Without thinking, Vincent stretched his hand out towards her face. He placed his fingers under her chin and slowly, and so very carefully brought her lips to his.

"Vincent? Yuffie? Oh, holy mother! What is going on in here? No! No! Never mind! I don't want to know. Just... do your business and come downstairs as soon as possible. Ew... ew, ew, ew," Cid walked out the door as quickly as he had come in.

Yuffie and Vincent were both radiating red. Vincent coughed awkwardly.

"Well, you should probably get dressed, then."

"Yeah. See you downstairs, I guess."

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Tifa had lost track of the days. She lived from operation to injection to operation. Her eyes were still the same ruby color they had always been, but they glowed brighter. She could feel a new, unfamiliar strength. She only knew that Zack was still alive because she could hear his screams along with hers.

Eventually, Tifa was considered stable enough to move back to the cell. Zack went with her. The mako had healed her wounds, but her body was still so very weak. She leaned on the cold, damp cell wall. She listened to the sound of her heartbeat, and the sound of Zack's breathing.

"Zack...?"

"Yes, Tifa?"

She drew in a ragged breath.

"Do you think... do you think that they are ever going to come? To save us, that is?"

It was silent for a long time.

"Zack...?"

"I have to believe that they will, Teef. I have to believe they will."

"Will I ever go back to normal?"

"Mentally and emotionally, you will eventually return to the person you were. But physically... no."

Tifa nodded.

"I can handle that."

They didn't talk for the rest of the evening. Dawn came too early and it felt like as soon as Tifa had closed her eyes, she was being shaken awake.

"Get up. Doc says only a few more operations and you'll be ready to train. Isn't that exciting?" The sarcasm dripped on every word the guard spoke.

Tifa stood up on shaky legs. Zack moved to her side and gave her hand a squeeze before they were dragged up the stairs.

As she lay on the operation table, she thought about Cloud.

Where are you? she thought.

And though she knew that she too, like Zack, had no other choice but to believe that he would come with friends to save them, part of her heart worried that they never would. Or they would be too late.

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It was storming. Thunder shook the entire cement floor was flooded, and Tifa sat shivering. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, her ruby eyes were glowing in the dark. She rocked back and forth, the only movement that didn't send waves of pain shooting through her body. Her final operation was tomorrow and then the were going to stick her in the mako chamber for two weeks. Her heart beat hard in her chest. Was she going to survive? She didn't think so. She'd already been injected, but only with small doses. This was going to change her into something else entirely. Zack had warned her of the pain.

She saw him move out of the corner of her eye.

"Tifa, come here."

Instead of giving her the chance to move, he came to her and drew her into his arms, sitting her in his lap. He hummed quietly into her ear for a little while until he spoke.

"I know you're scared; I'm scared, too."

"That doesn't help at all, Zack. Thanks, though."

He laughed quietly. They sat and listened to the storm for awhile.

"Why are you scared? I mean, you've been through this before and you survived. You shouldn't be worried about a thing..."

His arms tightened around her.

"I'm scared, Tifa, because I'm afraid I'm going to lose you. You are the only thing that has kept me going through this. Just knowing that you were here, that you would comfort me, that you were here to understand my pain... That's what has kept me strong. I need you to survive, Teef. I can't lose you. That's why I'm scared."

She was going to respond but his lips were on hers before she could. A million things crossed her mind at once.

What was going on?

What about Aerith?

Why wasn't she stopping him?

What about Cloud?

But he feels so good...

No. She loves Cloud.

Zack loves Aerith.

Then why is he kissing her? And touching her so softly...

Cloud.

Cloud.

Cloud.

Where is he?

She loves Cloud.

Zack.

Zack.

Zack.

He feels so good.

And so she kissed him back. Warmth flooded through her freezing veins. She didn't care that she didn't love him. She didn't care that he didn't love her. He was here. He was here and he was kissing her. He said he needed her and she realized that she needed him, too. Everyone else had abandoned her. Lightening flashed, illuminating the sky. Thunder shook the heavens. Zack moaned and the sound drove Tifa wild. She kissed him harder. Her arms wound their way around his neck. His hands were grasping her waist.

They fell asleep in each others arms.

Tifa awoke with a jerk. Her nightmare had been so vivid. But she felt his arms around her, keeping her safe if only for the night. She felt him move, waking because he felt her stir.

"You okay, Teef?"

She nodded.

"It was just a dream," she said, trying to make her voice as light as possible.

Just a dream.

But worry pooled in her heart. If it was a dream, why did it feel so real?

He sat up and she followed suit. He stared at her for a minute before opening his mouth to speak.

"So," he began, a blush forming on his cheeks. "About last night..."

He never got the chance to finish. One of the guards came down the stairs to fetch them for the final operation.

"It's the big day, kids! Aren't you excited?"

He laughed darkly.

Tifa could hear her heart pounding. Zack took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. She gave him a small smile.

As she followed the guard up the stairs she couldn't help but feel like she had done this before. Everything he instructed her to do, everywhere she was taken, it all felt strangely familiar. It was just as Dr. Hojo came towards her with a syringe in one hand and a scalpel in the other that she remembered.

Her dream. It was her nightmare all over again.

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Cloud woke with a start. His dream had been so... weird. He'd dreamed that his two best friends were making out in a cell that was hidden in the bottom of the old ShinRa mansion. He shook the thought out of his head and laughed.

Aerith walked into the room followed by Cid and Red.

"What's so funny, Spiky?" Cid asked.

"Nothing, just my dream. It was the weirdest thing..."

Something clicked in his mind. Something he had known, but had buried deep down in his mind. The old ShinRa mansion, that's where they were, whether they were making out or not. Cloud threw the blankets off of himself and jumped out of bed.

"Cid, how far away are we from Nibelheim?" His voice was filled with excitement and panic.

"Uh, about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Why?"

Cloud was throwing things out of his drawers, looking for pants. He threw on a pair, found a shirt and was searching for his materia, completely ignoring the others as they continued to question him.

"CLOUD! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! WHY THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO NIBELHEIM?!" Cid shouted.

Cloud froze, shocked that his friends were standing there. He'd forgotten all about them, his mind was consumed with memories of the laboratory, of the doctor hovering over him. How could he be so stupid? How could he not put all the pieces together sooner?

"That's where they are. That's where Hojo took them. I'm so stupid. That's where he had Zack and I before."

Understanding dawned on everyone. Aertith giggled and ran out of the room screaming for everyone to meet in the cockpit. Cid ran to tell the crew to change direction towards the village. Red howled and ran to join the others.

Cloud was filled with relief. Tifa and Zack were going to be found. They had help on the way. He missed them both so much. The past month had been hell on him. Guilt had weighed heavily on his shoulders. He missed seeing her ruby eyes, her smile, her dark hair dancing around her waist. Aerith had definitely made a few moves on him, despite the fact that she was seriously involved with Zack. He didn't understand it until a few nights ago when he had heard her crying in her room. She explained that Cloud was so similar to Zack that sometimes she mistook her feelings for the two. She apologized and cried harder until Cloud assured her that it was understandable and that he forgave her.

It was hard to hear that her feelings for him weren't real. Cloud had definitely been attracted to Aerith from the moment he had met her. She was so full of light, so beautiful and good. But Zack had dibs and Cloud wasn't going to be the kind of guy who would take his best friend's girl. These weeks without Tifa had made him realize what a huge part of his life she was. He missed her fire, her compassion, her complete understanding of the person he is. No one knew him better than she did. She had been there for him through every minute of his childhood and he for every minute of hers. He never realized just how much she did for him, how much she put up with on his part. He missed her.

He stood up to go form a plan with the rest of the team. A smile was playing on his lips as he thought about his childhood friend. He would save her and he would take her home. He would take care of her until she was strong again and then he would tell her everything.

He would tell her that it was his fault; he would apologize; he would tell her that she should hate him; he would tell her that even if she did hate him, it wouldn't matter because almost losing her forever made Cloud realize that he was in love with Tifa Lockheart.

And he would tell her that.

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Her skin burned. She cried out, not only in pain, but it panic. She called out his name a hundred times and she never heard a reply.

"ZACK!"

She sobbed. She felt the doctor stitching her up.

"ZACK!"

She couldn't see anything. Her eyes were blurred with tears. She couldn't speak anymore. She choked on her pain. She felt someone pushing her into a sitting position.

"Hush now. He can't hear you."

Her tears would not relent.

She could see him on the other operation table. Blood was everywhere. His eyes were open, staring off into nothing.

"Zack... please... Zack."

"Take her out of here. Get her cleaned up before we put her in there."

Tifa felt hands wrap around her arms. She shook them off and stood up. The guard lunged for her, but she stepped out of the way, turned, and slammed him in the face with her foot. She could feel the mako pumping through her veins. Her heart beat hard and her sense were far more alert than they had ever been. She could see each twitch of her opponent's muscles. She moved a split second before they did. Two guards were on the ground and she was getting ready to take on the third when Dr. Hojo spoke.

"Stop attacking her, you idiots. She'll kill you."

Tifa turned to face him.

"Zack," she said, her voice shaking.

The doctor laughed. Tifa's fingers twitched.

"He'll be fine once we put him in the chamber. Now please be a good girl and go with the nice men."

She didn't understand why he thought she would go willingly. He'd just witnessed her pummel his guards into the ground. But then she felt a rush and fell over to the ground. Her energy was drained. Mako injections were only going to get you so far. The remaining guards picked her up and carried her into a white room where they started to take off her clothes.

"Woah! Woah! Wait a minute! I can change myself, thanks."

The men laughed.

"We don't think so..."

They grinned and reached their hands towards her again.

She grabbed their arms, twisted them, and smiled when she heard them cry out in pain.

"Well, I do think so."

She let them go and they left the room, allowing her to change in private.

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Everything that happened after that was an exact replay of the nightmare Tifa had suffered the night before.

She left the white room and guards grabbed her, tied her hands behind her back to keep her from fighting, and led her down a long, cold hallway. Her bare feet made no noise on the concrete. She shook, her hair stood on the end of her skin.

They opened a metal door that led into a separate lab that she remembered only from an adventure that felt a lifetime ago. She had come here when she had first met Vincent, back when Cloud...

Cloud.

He wasn't going to save her.

Tears filled her eyes and dropped onto the cold, hard floor.

She heard doors open somewhere on the other side of the lab.

"Tifa! Run! Tifa!"

Her head shot up and she saw his raven hair, his beautiful eyes.

"ZACK!"

She struggled to free herself from the grip of the guards.

"Run! Damn it, Tifa! Go!"

But once she was free, she ran towards him, not the exit. She felt someone grab her, but she turned and kneed them in the gut. Her hands were still tied behind her back. Zack was fighting with the guards who had led him in. His hands were freed from the rope that bound them. When he was finished he turned to Tifa. Shock and anger flashed in his features.

"What the hell are you still doing here? I told you to leave."

Tears streamed down her face.

"I couldn't... I couldn't leave you here."

His face softened. He placed his hand on the side of her face and kissed her gently.

"You're so stupid." He laughed.

He untied her hands, laced his fingers through hers, and led her towards the closest door.

"We're going to get out of here, Teef. I promise. I won't let them change you. I'm going to keep you safe."

As soon as he finished, a door flew open and twenty or thirty of the giant men, similar to the man that had kidnapped Tifa in the first place, stormed into the lab. Hojo's voice came from somewhere, though the man was nowhere to be seen.

"Your little friends are here to save you, my little experiments. But I don't think they are going to make to you in time. It would have been so lovely to see what would have happened to you had you turned out successful."

The men charged the two. Zack was quick, knocking down the first people to come towards him. Tifa was nimble, dodging every attack. But the two were weak and there were too many of them.

It all happened very fast.

She could hear his voice. Their voices.

"TIFA!"

"ZACK!"

"Hold on! We're coming!"

She was distracted just enough to allow someone to grab hold of her. She could feel fingers crushing around her throat. Her feet were off the ground. She couldn't breathe and everything was going black...

"TIFA!"

She heard him yell.

She saw the blur of his black hair.

She felt the fingers loosen their grip.

She felt herself fall.

She heard something fall to the ground beside her.

She saw him.

She saw the blood.

No. No. No, no, no, no, no, no.

She heard herself scream.

And sob.

She felt the tears flood.

She felt herself move without thinking.

She had him in her arms.

She heard the door fly open.

She heard heavy footsteps.

She heard sword hit sword.

She heard them call out her name, trying to find her.

She heard them call out his name.

Zack.

Zack.

Zack.

Her eyes locked with his.

Ruby wine and violet blue skies.

"They're gonna save you, kid."

A ghost of a smile played on his lips.

"Zack. Zack, please. You have to stay with me. Zack..."

He lifted his fingers to her lips, quieting her.

"You know the worst part, Miss Tifa Lockheart?"

She shook her head, tears flowing onto the concrete, mixing with the blood that had pooled there.

"The worst part is... I could have loved you."

His fingers slipped from her lips and fell to the floor.

She screamed. She screamed a loud, blood-curling, heart-breaking scream.

And then she cried.

Her body shook with sobs.

She hadn't noticed the pipe that was sticking out of his torso, the obvious cause for the loss of blood. She grabbed it and pulled it from his body. She threw it across the lab, shattering the glass of something. She didn't pay any attention to it until the alarm went off.

The mako chamber. She had smashed the glass of the mako chamber.

_Shit._

Mako spilled from the broken glass. Tifa grabbed Zack under the arms and dragged him towards the closest door.

"Cloud! Someone! Help me!"

She wasn't going to leave him in here. The mako was flooding the lab. It just kept flowing. She didn't understand where it was all coming from.

Leave it to Hojo to have a never ending supply of mako, she thought.

"CLOUD!"

Nothing.

"AERITH! VINCENT!"

Nothing.

Where did they go?

The mako was around her ankles. She lifted Zack and put his arm around her shoulder so she could support him better.

"HELP ME!"

She heard a muffled sound.

"HELLO!?"

The mako was around her knees, burning her scars.

"... Tifa... here... going... to..."

She pounded on the door.

"WHAT?! I can't hear you! I'm in here! HELP!"

She pounded on the door as hard as she could.

She sobbed.

The mako was up around her waist. It was seeping into her bloodstream through her open wounds.

She leaned against the door.

"Someone... someone... help..."

She slid down the door, the weight of Zack's lifeless body becoming too much for her weakening muscles.

She slipped under the surface of the flood, surrendering to the pain.

No one was coming.

Zack is dead.

There's no point in trying.

No one was coming.

_You know the worst part, Miss Tifa Lockheart?_

_The worst part is... I could have loved you._

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He could hear her sobbing, her cries for help. His mind was racing, trying to figure out how he was going to save her.

Hold on Tifa, he pleaded in his thoughts. Hold on.

He heard her pounding on the door and as every pound grew weaker, his heart broke more and more.

"Cloud, we have to do something!"

Aerith had tears flowing down her cheeks; her green eyes were on fire with pain. Zack, her Zack, was in there and she knew it.

"We have to help them!"

His heart burned with rage. There was no way to open these damn doors. His friends stood close around him, all of them trying to drown out the sounds of their friends slowly dying on the other side of the door.

Tears welled up in his eyes. His ocean blue, mako-enhanced eyes filled and overflowed. He shook violently with sobs and fell on his knees. His best friends were in there. The two people who had stood by his side his entire life and he couldn't save them. Everyone stood frozen. Never had Cloud shown his emotions. Never had they seen him even wince in pain, and here he was on his knees. Tears escaped everyone.

His pain ebbed into a dull fury, and then not so dull fury, until he was royally pissed. He shot up and ran to the metal doors that imprisoned his heart behind them. He slammed into them, using every once of his thick muscles. He slammed into them again, and again, and again, and again, and….

xxxxxxxxxx

Her mind was black.

So this is death, she thought. It's not so scary.

Something was tugging at the back of her mind, something important that she should be remembering, but wasn't. She was alert of everything, which was a strange sensation seeing as how there seemed to be nothing around. But she could feel a soft breeze on her arms, she could smell wild flowers, she could hear footsteps.

Footsteps?

And then she felt a slight pressure on her hand.

Leave me alone, she thought. I'm dead.

She heard a chuckle, a very familiar, very comforting chuckle.

You're not the dead one here, I am.

She sat straight up and realized that she had had her eyes closed this entire time. She was sitting in a field of the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. They reminded her of the flowers in Aerith's church.

Aerith… Aerith…

Cloud.

Cloud hadn't come.

And Zack was dead.

Zack was dead; she couldn't save him.

Zack…

"I'm right here, sweetie."

She looked up and sure enough, there he was. His violet blue eyes sparkled with warmth.

"You're dead."

He laughed.

"Yes."

"And I'm… not?"

He shook his head.

"Then why am I here?"

He sat down next to her.

"I'm keeping you safe. Until Cloud can take care of you."

Tears clouded her red wine eyes. She looked away from him, heat coloring her cheeks with pink. She felt his finger under her chin and he lifted her face up toward him.

"What's the matter?"

"You… you're trying to protect me, and I couldn't… I couldn't…"

She couldn't finish. Her heart was breaking and she was so disgusted with herself. She let him die in her arms. It was all her fault. If she hadn't lost focus for that split second, he would be alive…

"Stop."

She looked at him, her eyes burning with questions.

"It isn't your fault, Tifa. Don't you dare think that it's your fault. I don't regret anything I did to protect you. And if it's forgiveness you need because in your weird little head you think that you've wronged me terribly, then you have it. Not because I blame you, but because I know it's what you need to hear."

His wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Zack. I'm so sorry…"

He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Listen to me, Tifa Lockheart. Don't you say you're sorry to me, understand? I'm not sorry for one thing that happened today."

She hugged him tightly.

"They're coming for you now. Be strong, Tifa. We'll see each other again, I promise. Listen; tell Aerith that I love her. You can tell her what happened between us, if you want, but I want her to know what she means to me. I may love you, Teef, but I'm still in love with her. I'm sorry if that hurts you; I should have told you everything sooner, when we had time. One day, maybe…"

She shook her head.

"No need, Zack. I'll tell her. I… I'm actually glad to hear it. I've… Well… I've been in love with Cloud for years. I'll keep what happened our little secret."

She winked at him and he stood up. He helped her to her feet.

"You're my best friend."

She laughed, fighting tears as she thought about how close they had grown over the months. Now she had to say good bye in the most permanent way.

"It isn't forever, Teef. Just for a little while…"

She nodded, holding tight to that promise.

"Don't forget to tell Aerith!"

And then his voice disappeared. The last thing she saw was his smile, and then everything was black again.

xxxxxxxxxx

The doors flew open and a wave of mako flooded into the corridor.

"Holy –"

"TIFA!"

"TIFA!"

"ZACK!"

Two bodies poured out at the feet of the group.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no."

But before anyone could move, the dark haired beauty shook with violent coughing. She vomited mako everywhere. She shivered in the cool air of the hall.

"Tifa! Tifa!"

His arms were warm and they were wrapped around her small, fragile body. Tears were pouring down her face.

"Zack…" she moaned.

"Oh no." Aerith fell to her knees and wrapped herself around Zack's lifeless body.

"Tifa, hush. It's okay, you're safe," he whispered.

"Zack…" she whispered.

Aerith didn't shake with sobs, or curse the heavens, no, she sat by the side of her beloved, tears streaking their way down her face. She didn't say a word, she didn't take her eyes off of him.

Another alarm sounded over their heads.

"Shit," Barrett cried.

Cloud looked up from Tifa's face, over to Zack. His eyes filled with agony.

"Barrett," he said, his voice gruff. "Take Zack, I'll get Tifa. Yuffie, you help Aerith. Let's get the hell out of here."


	3. Chapter Three

It was pouring rain outside. The group of friends fought their way through the storm, towards the mountains. Cid had suggested just staying in one of the house there in Nibelheim, but Cloud knew that Tifa wouldn't be able to handle it. Everything about Nibelheim, Tifa hated. Ever since she had watched it burn to the ground, ever since Cloud had left her here, all alone, she despised it. Cloud didn't blame her; he hated it too. They made their way into the mountains, where Cloud led them to a cave he knew well. He used to come here and think whenever things got rough in the village. He set Tifa down on the cold ground and helped set up camp. He could Aerith moving lifelessly, her eyes no longer shining. Cloud swallowed the lump in his throat and went over to her.

"We'll bury him when the weather clears," he said to her.

She just nodded, avoiding his eyes. Yuffie and Vincent were making a bed for Tifa out of the few blankets they had snagged from the village. Her skin was paler than the moon, but not in the pretty way that it usually shone. She looked sick. Cloud could see the scars that ravaged her delicate body. He felt sick, knowing what had happened to her. Knowing because it had happened to him. He longed to hold her in his arms, to take away the memories of the past few months, to take away her pain and carry it as his own burden. He would never forgive himself for this. It was his fault, his own selfish fault. He should have gone. He should have been taken. He had been so sure that he would be able to track them. He was so sure that he would have saved her before they had the chance to hurt her. He was wrong. Tears flowed from his eyes, tears of guilt and fear. He couldn't lose her to the monster that was mako. His tears fell from his cheeks and onto her hands.

"Cloud...?" she moaned.

His heart beat quickened.

"Tifa?! Oh, Tifa! Honey, I am so - "

"Hush."

She was speaking with her eyes closed, scared that if he saw that mako enhanced color, he would go over the edge. Not that she was sure he even knew what her eyes had looked like before. He had never paid attention to her, or so she thought. But here he was, stroking her hair, her face, her hands.

"Cloud, what happened to me... It wasn't your fault."

The tears came harder. It seemed like the harder he cried, the harder the rain fell outside. The wind howled as he sobbed beside her.

"It is, it is, it is. I let them take you, Tifa. I knew they would. It it, it is, it is. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Tears pricked in her eyes and she finally opened them. Beside her she saw a man so broken, so full of guilt and pain, and she couldn't stand it. Not Cloud. He would not hurt because of her.

"Cloud Strife, don't you dare say you're sorry to me."

She smiled as she remembered the man who had said those words to her. His electric blue eyes stared into her ruby red ones.

"Tifa..."

"Cloud, if it's forgiveness you need because you think that you've wronged me terribly, then you have it. Not because I blame you, but because I know it's what you need to hear."

He just stared into her eyes, a million emotions flashing in his face. After a while he chuckled lowly.

"You sound like Zack."

She smiled.

"Oh! Can you ask Aerith to come over here... I, uh, I need to tell her something," she said, remembering a promise she had made.

He raised an eyebrow, but did what she asked. He left her with Aerith, figuring that she needed to speak to her alone and went to talk with Cid and Barrett.

"Aerith, Zack died saving me, and for that I am so sorry. I understand if you hate me. I understand if you never want to speak to me again. But he was a good man, and a great friend."

Emerald met ruby.

"He, he wanted me to tell you that he loves you. More than anything. You meant the world to him, Aerith. He says that you'll see each other again. It isn't forever."

Tifa's voice was cracking because her heart was breaking for her friend. Tears where falling down an angel's face and Tifa wished that she could take it all back, that she could rewind and stop Zack from saving her.

"Thank you, Teef. Thank you for telling me that. I don't hate you. I never could hate you. You are a great friend. I'm glad that Zack had you for company all of these months. Thank you."

And with that she walked away.

xxxxxxxxxx

The wind was whipping through the cave. Yuffie was wrapped in three blankets as well as Vincent's arms. Red XIII and Cait Sith were huddled in a corner, using their fur to keep them warm. Cid and Barett were each separately wrapped in a few blankets and were sitting on either side of Aerith, who was wrapped in a few blankets of her own. Everyone was sleeping, besides Cloud who was listening to Tifa shake and shiver in the cold. He knew she was feeling it more than everyone else. All of her nerves and sense were heightened by the recent mako exposure. After a while he could take it no longer. He stood and walked over to her, bringing along his blankets. He pulled off the three she already had covering her and laid down beside her, covering them both with her original blankets and the three that he had brought over. He wrapped his arms around her frozen body and drew her closer to his warmth. He placed his cheek on hers and listened as her breathing slowed. He felt her heart beating quickly, but he also felt her skin warming.

"There, there," he whispered, his hot breath in her ear sending shivers of a different sort shooting up her spine.

He tightened his grip around her and hummed a familiar lullaby in her ear. He could feel her smile against his skin.

"My mom used to sing that to me whenever I couldn't sleep."

"I know. My mom and I used to sit in my room with the window open just to hear her."

Her smile widened.

"Really?"

He chuckled.

"Really."

He started humming it again and she joined in with him. After a while, he heard her yawn.

"Get some sleep. You need your rest, especially after..."

She felt him tense beside her. She rubbed her hands into his back, waiting for the muscles there to relax.

"Let's just not talk about it, okay?" she asked.

The only thing she could hear was the storm outside.

"Okay?"

The wind howled and the rain sounded like glass shattering.

"Cloud, please don't do this. Not to yourself. Not to me."

When he spoke, his voice was gruff.

"Tifa, when all of this sinks in, and you realize that all the pain you went through day after day after day is all my fault..."

She yawned again, although she had been trying to fight it while he was talking.

"Good night, Tifa."

She stretched her face up and kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Good night, Cloud."

xxxxxxxxxx

The storm did not relent and supplies were running low. Cloud sent Vincent out to hunt for monsters and Aerith tried to make whatever he came back with edible. It rained for three days. Finally, the decision to move was proposed.

"But where will we go?"

Cloud searched his memory for a safe place deeper in the mountains. He knew these mountains almost as well as Tifa did. But every time he thought about these mountains, violent images from the past resurfaced; memories that he had tried to drown out a long time ago.

"I know somewhere," a small voice croaked.

All eyes shot to the fragile, young woman. Her skin was sweaty and pale, her eyes glowed, and she was holding her arms over her chest, trying to keep herself from shaking, She was getting worse, everyone could see it. Guilt flashed in a pair of ocean blue eyes.

"Tifa…"

"Cloud, please."

"Tifa, no, I can't risk it…"

"Cloud, please! Just shut up for a minute and listen!"

He looked a little offended, but he shut his mouth.

"I know you're worried about me. I'm worried about me. But I know this place like the back of my hand, so just let me take us to safety. I'll let you carry me if that's what you want, but please…"

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to make the decision. He stared into her eyes, searching, and finally gave a sharp nod.

"Finally!" Barrett roared. "We're getting out of this cave!"

The crew was packed within the hour. Cloud helped Tifa to her feet. She swayed slightly, but after a few seconds she was fine.

"Are you sure about this, Teef?" Anxiety was painted in his voice.

"Yes. I know what I'm doing."

He walked beside her to the mouth of the cave. Everyone stood waiting. Tifa took a deep breath and stumbled out into the rain. She couldn't believe it, but it actually felt good to be moving her muscles. She felt tense and sore, but it was relieving to be working her legs. She tripped a couple times, but someone was always there to help her back up. She led them for hours, moving mostly on memory. At last she could finally see the opening to the cave she wanted.

"Almost there," she called out to the group.

They reached the opening within minutes. Tifa could feel that something was wrong. Wasn't there supposed to be a torch here to use as light until she could get to where the electricity was?

"What are you waiting for?" Cid asked.

"The… the torch…" she mumbled.

"Oh, you need light? Well, you shoulda said something! I've got my Fire material!" Yuffie called.

Tifa shook her head.

"No, there's supposed to be a torch."

"You sure, Teef? You might be thinking of a different –"

"No! No! There is supposed to be a torch here, at this cave. I don't think we should go here; I think someone else beat us here."

Understanding passed quickly over Cloud and Aerith, while the rest of the group was reluctant to try and find somewhere else.

"Can we just stay here for the night? Right here at the mouth? We won't even go deep into the cave? Please? I'm exhausted!" Yuffie whined.

"No, no. It isn't safe." Cloud said.

So it was decided that they would move to another cave. They hadn't walked half a mile before Tifa moaned.

"Tifa, what is it?" Aerith called out.

Tifa grabbed her head and screamed.

"TIFA! TIFA!" She heard Cloud's voice.

She slumped into the mud, rain drops cascading off of her body to form puddles around her. Cloud ran forward and picked her soaking body up into his arms. He looked up at his friends, begging for a solution with his eyes.

"We need to take her back to the cave," Aerith whispered.

Cloud's eyes froze with anger.

"That's too dangerous! We both know she was right, Aerith. There's someone down there."

"Cloud, something is wrong with her. We need to get her out of this rain and the only other place for miles is where we came from. We don't have that time."

Cloud looked down at Tifa, sadness overwhelming him.

"I'm going to make you safe, Teef. Trust me, I'm going to make you safe."

He led them all back to the cave where Yuffie used her materia to take them deeper in.

xxxxxxxxxx

The rain had been falling around her, creating a rhythm; a rhythm that turned into a soft whisper, that transformed into a cruel laugh, until it was him.

His voice was in her head, screaming in her ears.

"Pretty little girl. Miss me?"

And suddenly everything was on fire.

Her arms.

Her legs.

Her brain.

Her heart.

Her home.

Her village.

Everything.

Everything was burning away.

Her chest throbbed. She clutched it with tight fingers. But where she should have touched a T-shirt, she felt blood. Blood. It was pouring from her…

And he was laughing.

"Silly, pretty little girl. Can't save anyone can you? Not your darling mother, not your dear daddy, and certainly not that Zack Fair. The guilt has to be eating you alive!"

And he continued laughing.

She begged for an end to this torture, to this pain; everything was red; everything was on fire. Hot tears fell from her lava eyes. She screamed.

And she screamed.

And she screamed.

And he laughed.

And he laughed.

"Why don't you come and see me?"

And everything was on fire.

xxxxxxxxxx

He watched her from his safe haven, from his never-ending field of flowers.

He felt her pain.

He saw her memories.

And he cried for her.

He stood alone, his tears soaking into the dirt, watering the lilies at his feet.

Stay strong, Tifa, please, he thought. They need you.

He wanted to wrap his arms around her and build her up again. He wanted to strengthen her with his strength. He wanted to walk beside her as she rose back on her feet. He wanted to see her eyes shine the way they did whenever she would smile.

He wanted to be alive.

Stay strong, Tifa.

For me.

xxxxxxxxxx

Her heart was beating.

Her breathing was shallow, but her lungs were working.

Cloud leaned his head against her chest for the millionth time that hour, checking for signs of life.

"Cloud, she's going to be okay.."

Aerith's voice was soft but her were eyes frozen with emotion that no one understood. Aerith and Tifa had been so close for so long; they had had their rough patches, with Tifa always wondering if Cloud's affections were aimed at Aerith and Aerith always thinking she caught Zack's eyes wandering in Tifa's direction, but other than that they were the best of friends. Yuffie was at Cloud's side, always sweeping Tifa's sweaty hair away from her forehead, trying to cool her down. Yuffie's frantic eyes shot up to find reassurance in Aerith's, but the ice she found in the emerald did the opposite of soothing her. Instead she looked to Vincent, who was keeping a better tab on Tifa's heartbeat than anyone. He was so focused using his enhanced senses that he didn't notice her staring at him for a moment. When he looked up his eyes were filled with worry and panic and that look was all it took to send Yuffie over the edge. Tears welled up in her eyes and flowed down her young, soft cheeks. No one noticed until she sucked in a deep, shaky breath. Vincent had her in arms before fresh tears could fall. He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't find words he knew to be true. He couldn't promise her Tifa would be okay.

Drip, drip, drip.

It sounded like the rain was breaking through the cave's rock walls.

Drip, drip, drip.

Cloud looked around to find the leak, but was surprised to find that it wasn't a leak at all.

Yuffie, Vincent, Barrett, Cid, Cait, and Red were the source of the noise. It was their tears falling onto the rock beneath them. He couldn't hold on anymore; they all knew it.

She wasn't going to get any better.

She was lost in an ocean of poisoning that Cloud had thrown her into.

She'd tried to be strong.

She'd been so sure.

She'd been so wrong.

She was slipping through their fingers right before their eyes and there was nothing that they could do to save her. She's always been there to hold their hands, to make promises that she could keep, to help fight the darkness that threatened to consume them all. Tifa had given them all a home to come to if ever the need be. She had a hold on every one of their hearts.

Cloud leaned in close to her ear and whispered to her gently.

"Stay strong, Tifa. For me."

xxxxxxxxxx

She dug her nails into the emptiness around her. Her body was convulsing, burning from the inside out.

Nibelheim.

Her home.

Her friends.

Her… her everything.

She deserved to burn for letting that fire ravage.

She could have helped someone, anyone.

But she had chased him up into the mountains, bent on revenge.

She'd burned with rage as the ones she loved burned to death.

Her father's blood stained her hands; she should have saved him. If only she had moved faster. If only, if only.

She deserved to be cut through, bleeding to death.

So much blood on her hands.

Her dad.

Zack.

Oh, Zack.

She wept for him.

Guilt consumed her light.

She was letting go.

She was a monster.

She was going to protect the ones she loved from herself.

She only caused pain.

Pain, and fire, and blood, and death.

Pain, and fire, and blood, and death.

"Tifa."

Zack?

"Tifa."

Zack! Zack, Zack, Zack, Zack.

Rain fell from heaven, salty, warm rain. It washed over her, killing the fire that licked her skin. It cleansed the blood away from the wound that had already turned back into a scar. She breathed in deeply.

"They're tears."

She opened her eyes and sat straight up.

"Zack!"

She leapt into his arms and her heart felt whole at the sound of his laugh.

"Tears?"

"From me. From Cloud. From Yuffie and Vincent. From Cid. From Barrett. And Cait and Red."

"Zack…"

"It's not time yet, Tifa. You have to go back."

"Zack! I'm not strong enou-"

"They need you, Tifa. You have to go back."

"I can't. I can't, I can't, I can't."

She was fading away. His face was blurry and everything was going black.

"You have to go back."

xxxxxxxxxx

She snapped her eyes open and sat straight up. She breathed heavily and her skin was dripping sweat.

"Tifa?"

The cavern was lit with a few torches. She could see Cloud coming towards her but Yuffie was standing the closest. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around Tifa.

"Tifa! Oh, Tifa, Tifa, Tifa. I was so worried about you! Don't ever, EVER do that to me again."

"Yuffie –"

"I was worried sick! Everyone was worried! We didn't think that you would ever wake up…"

"YUFFIE!" Tifa yelled.

Yuffie froze for a moment, leaving her mouth hanging wide open. Tifa met the eyes of everyone present.

"We need to get out of here. We need to get out of here NOW."

Her voice was trembling and her body was shaking. She was sweaty and her blood red eyes were glowing in the dimly lit cave. She finally allowed her eyes to lock with his. Blue oceans enveloped her. She could see the fear painted on his features. He wasn't speaking, but she knew he was asking a question. She nodded.

"Pack up camp." His voice was hard and had Tifa not known him his entire life she wouldn't have been able to detect the uncomfortable tremor. She held out her arms and he came to her. He wrapped his fingers in her hair and held her tightly.

"He's here," she said.

His arms grasped her tighter. They could hear each other's hearts beating as fear raced through their blood.

Him.

He was a dark, moonless night without even the stars for hope.

"Don't worry, Tifa. I'm going to make you safe. I won't let him hurt you."

Cid approached the two, swearing underneath his breath.

"Cid, what's wrong?"

"Well, sir, we're packed and ready to go. There's just one damn problem."

Tifa glanced frightfully at Cloud.

"What?" he asked in a hard voice.

"Aerith is missing."

xxxxxxxxxx

Nothing was making any sense. She felt her body pulled forward by some internal force. Though her head screamed to stop, to turn around, to check and see if Tifa was alive, or to at least call out and let everyone know where she was going, she couldn't move her lips. She watched as her feet moved themselves one in front of the other. Guilt pressed in around her; no one would know what had happened. The strange thing was, she didn't even know what had happened. One moment she was watching Cloud support a fading Tifa in his arms and the next she was taking off down the cave. She felt a call, a sweet whisper, of something waiting for her. Her heart beat fast and warmth flooded through her much frozen veins. She hadn't felt this alive since... Well, since Zack was still breathing. The further down the cave she got, the harder her heart beat. Soon she was running, as if chasing the hope that her love was here. She missed his violet sunset eyes, his strong arms around her slim body, and the way that he looked at her... The way that he loved her. He was her world, her everything. Aerith didn't know how long she had been running, only that her chest was on fire and her legs were going to give out, but she could see a light drawing closer and so she pressed on.

"Zack!" she called, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Zack, are you here?"

A small chuckle sounded somewhere behind her; a familiar light-hearted chuckle.

Tears poured from her green island eyes.

"Zack," she croaked.

She turned, expecting to find her prince charming, but there were only shadows.

For the first time since his death, Aerith fell to her knees and shook with sobs. "Why?" she cried. "Why?!"

She screamed, she wailed, and she laid in the dirt.

"Seek peace, child."

Her head shot up. Had she fallen asleep? The voice was feint and feminine, as if the wind had called in her ear.

"What?"

The light grew stronger and the voice sounded again.

"Seek peace, child. It has been long since I have heard from you."

The Ancients. The Ancients were here. Slowly, Aerith rose into sitting position. She raised a weak hand to shade her eyes from the brightness pouring through the opening in the cavern wall. She stabled herself on shaky legs and walked forward, enveloping herself in light.

xxxxxxxxxx

"I'm going to look for Aerith alone."

Cloud looked around at the others and then straight into the eyes of Tifa.

"Understand? Alone."

"Yes, yes, Cloud. We all understand, for the millionth time."

Tifa's tone was dripping with her usual sarcasm. Yuffie snickered, hiding her face in Vincent's cape while Vincent tried to refrain from cracking a smile. Cid and Barrett coughed to try and disguise their laughter. No one had realized really just how much they had missed Tifa's wit and charm. They all felt warm again, like they had been missing a piece and now that Tifa was back to normal, they're whole again. Cloud eyed his friends suspiciously, letting it slide.

"If I'm not back by tomorrow... Leave."

Tifa started to object, but Cloud cut her off.

"You know as well as I do that there would be no saving me. Promise me you'll get out of here, Tif."

"Yeah, yeah."

He stared down at her until she met his eyes. Quickly and ever so softly, he leaned down and kissed her. A few small gasps sounded behind him. He pressed his lips to hers once, twice, three times. One soft peck on the nose and then he was out of sight in three long strides.

Tifa let out a sigh, shook her head, and peered up at her friends.

"How long are we waiting until we follow?"

xxxxxxxxxx

He watched her call his name.

And he called hers.

He watched her stretch out her arms in search of him.

And he stretched out his.

He watched diamond tears fall from her eyes.

And tears fell from his.

He watched as she demanded answers to unanswerable questions.

And he asked them, too.

Why?

Why?

WHY!

He longed for her. His angel.

He laid himself down on his stomach in the field of wildflowers. He spread his arms open wide and whispered gently. "Soon, my love. Sooner than you think."

xxxxxxxxxx

Calm flooded her broken heart. The voices of her ancestors stilled her tears and her feet moved, though she wasn't quite sure where she was going. The loss of her beloved no longer weighed on her shoulders; she knew he was watching, she could hear his thoughts.

"Soon," he called to her, and she believed.

There was no fear in her heart at the words, though maybe there should have been. To be with him soon meant, of course, the end of her life, but with her newly restored connection to the Ancients, she did not worry. Things would happen as they were meant to.

Her movements were but whispers; her grace had returned. Pink blossomed on her cheeks and a light flickered in her eyes.

"Soon," he called to her, and she believed.

Maybe there was an evil waiting for her. Maybe it would hurt. Maybe.

It didn't matter. Zack. Zack mattered and only him.

A giggle burst from her bubble gum lips.

How good it felt to know that these last few steps were leading her to him. Zack, Zack, Zack. Her heart beat his name. The cave was growing colder, but she could see the light ahead of her; she shivered and her feet kept moving.

Zack.

She could see so much of him in Cloud and it frightened her. For a period of time, Aerith had been willing to give up on Zack to be with Cloud. Zack had disappeared, leaving her with no clue as to why he was gone and Cloud had been there with open arms. Even after Zack's death, which had sucked her soul straight out of her veins, she still glanced at Cloud with longing. Not for him, no, but for the resemblance he held to Zack, not only in their crazy hair and strangely lit eyes, but also in mannerisms, in character, in spirit. She caught herself wanting those ocean blue eyes to look at her the way they did Tifa; Tifa, his heart, his strength. It was so odd to have watched Cloud suppress the obvious feelings he had for Tifa. Zack and Aerith had watched day in and day out as the blonde struggled internally with what he thought was right and wrong. He was convinced that he was a monster and that someone like Tifa had no business with him. He wanted what was best for her, he wanted her to be happy.

Aerith chuckled as she remembered talking with Zack about the peculiar Cloud Strife.

"One day," Zack had said. "He'll realize how miserable he's made that poor woman. All he wants is for her to be happy and the idiot can't see that he's the only one who can do it."

Poor Cloud.

But being away from her, having her in danger had made up his mind. He wouldn't hold her off because the thought of living his life without her cut through him. Even worse, the thought of someone else sweeping her off her feet had him swearing to kill any man who put his hands on her.

Likewise, having Zack's life taken from him, and from her, had made Aerith realize that there was no life without him. He was her everything and she would do what it took to get back to him. He'd promised her so much and she had been so afraid to believe it. He'd promised her a wedding, a life spent with him, a home, a family, everything she had ever wanted. She'd seen the light dancing in his violet eyes as he painted these pictures in her mind. But she was not going to let herself get hurt, she wasn't going to put her faith in his strong hands, afraid that he would crush it and break her heart. Slowly, though, she warmed up to the idea. She loved him with everything she had and she wanted to spend forever with him.

"Soon," he called to her, and she believed.

It had been raining the night he had been taken. She knew because they had gone out that night.

There had been an excess of knocks on the door, beating out the tune to an old nursery rhyme. She'd sighed, put her book to the side, and got up to open the door. He stood there with a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen, eyes on fire.

"Tsk, tsk," he scolded her. "This will simply not do."

She stood and stared at him, wondering if he had maybe at a little too much to drink at the Seventh Heaven.

"Are you going to just stand there and stare at me, or are you going to get that cute little rear of yours in gear?"

"What are you talking about?" she practically screeched.

He laughed, a laugh filled with excitement and nerves.

"Hurry up and get dressed into something nice! I'm taking you out tonight. Don't ask questions, silly. Questions ruin surprises. Now go!"

He winked at her and when she came back down the stairs, he was arranging the flowers in a vase by the sink.

"Those are incredible. Where did you find them?"

He smiled.

"I found them in a little church. I'll take you there later tonight, but for now we have to go! You know how pissy they get when you miss your reservations."

He'd taken her to a wonderful restaurant. In fact, it was the same restaurant they had gone to for their very first date. He paid the bill and walked her out, intertwining their fingers as he led her down the street. A light rain started falling and he slid his jacket off, wrapping it over her head. She squealed and he swept her off her feet, carrying her through the broken door of the church. He set her on her feet in the middle of a patch of flowers. He slightly lifted his jacket, just enough to where he could lean down a lightly kiss her lips. She laughed and threw her arms around his neck.

"Zack, what is all of this?"

He said nothing, but instead looked straight in her eyes. She felt like she was falling into a sunset, his eyes glowing intensely violet.

"Aerith, I- I love you."

She leaned up on her toes, kissing him gently.

"Zack, I love you, too. You know that."

Slowly, oh so slowly, he bent down on one knee.

She gasped.

"Zack-"

"Aerith, please, shut your mouth for five minutes. Listen, we've been together a long time. I've loved you every day and every day I love you more and more. I promise, Aerith, I promise to take care of you and be good to you. I will never hurt you. I will dedicate my life to your heart, to keeping safe in mine. Aerith Gainsborough, will you marry me?"

He pulled out a little black, velvet box. He opened it to reveal a beautiful ring. Diamond surrounded by emerald and amethyst; green and violet, Aerith and Zack.

She stared at it, her heart pounding. Her heart cried yes, yes, a million times yes, but her mind couldn't process it.

"I- I don't know."

A smile flickered across his lips, his eyes remaining just a bright.

"Good enough," he said and he stood up and kissed her like he never had before. He walked her home and as he said good night he pressed the velvet box into her hand.

"Watch over that for me, okay?"

He winked and he was gone.

The next day, he was missing.

Aerith snapped back from her walk down memory lane. She felt the box resting in the pocket sewed onto the front of her dress. She had kept it safe, clinging to it like it was the last piece of him she had. Her feet had taken her to a big clearing with stone steps leading up to giant stone platform. Her feet carried her up the stairs.

She got down on her knees, praying to the Ancients, praying that her friends would be okay as they faced the danger ahead of them, praying that Zack would forgive her for being so stupid, praying that the world would not fall into darkness.

"Soon," he had called to her, and she believed.

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Somewhere in tracking Aerith, he had lost all control of his senses. Something crept inside of his veins, taking over the movement of his body. He was cold, so cold. He couldn't focus. His feet were moving, but he wasn't moving them. His fingers were twitching, but he wasn't twitching them. He felt like he was slipping into ice cold waves. Darkness constricted his heart; he felt his soul freezing up.

Tifa, Tifa, Tifa.

She could snap him out of this.

"Scream for her, Cloud, scream and she'll come. She always comes. She always saves you," he thought.

Tifa, Tifa, Tifa.

He wanted to open his mouth, but he couldn't. Something was inside of him, something controlling him.

No, no, no.

He saw a light ahead and his pace quickened without him quickening it. Fear struck him. He was going to do something and he wouldn't be able to help it. His fingers twitched again and the desire to kill bubbled inside of him.

No, no, no.

Aerith!

Everything clicked.

Aerith, he was following Aerith. His fingers twitched for his sword.

No, no, no.

He couldn't stop. He was ascending the stairs to her unsuspecting body.

No, no, no.

He had to stop.

Tifa, Tifa, Tifa.

His fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sword. He pulled it out, holding it over his head. He struggled to keep his arms from falling.

Tifa, Tifa, Tifa.

"Cloud! Cloud, what the HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Tifa!

The sword dropped from his hands, clanging to the ground. Aerith didn't even flinch. The cold left him and he turned to find her.

Tifa.

She was standing at the head of the group. He wanted to run to her, to have her wrap her arms around him and chase away the haunting. Her eyes were questioning, but there was no judgment. One of the many great things about Tifa was she let you explain yourself before she judged. She took two steps towards him and then horror flooded her beautiful face.

"Cloud! Cloud, look out!"

He turned in time to see the shadow descend on Aerith's praying form. If he had been thinking clearly, he could have grabbed her in time. He wasn't thinking clearly, in fact he wasn't thinking at all. All he saw was the devil and his sword.

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There was no pain, but it was not an instant death. She felt the blade pass through her; it had moved so swiftly.

She held the velvet box in her hand.

"Yes, Zack, yes. A million times yes," she thought.

It slipped from her fingers.

She could see the faces of her friends, the people who had stood by her through all of the tough times, who had protected her, who had fought for her over and over. She wanted to assure them that everything would be fine; they would all be together again soon.

"Soon," she called to them.

Soon, and she hoped that they would believe.

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Tifa watched as he collected the fragile body in his arms. She knew he was broken. She knew that he would blame himself. She made her feet take her to him.

"Cloud-"

"Don't."

He brushed past her, carrying an angel in his arms.

Tifa lowered her head, so he wouldn't see her fighting tears. She spotted something on the rock.

"Cloud, wait. I have something… Something to give to Aerith."

He paused, but did not turn back to her. She snatched the velvet black box, opened it, a pulled the ring out. She walked over to Cloud, not bothering to look him in the eyes, and she slid the ring on to Aerith's left ring finger.

"She would have wanted this," Tifa whispered and then she turned and descended the stairs before Cloud had time to blink.

It was hard for all of them to say good-bye to her. She had been their light in the darkest of times. She'd comforted them in times of great sadness and helped to mend their broken spirits. No one knew what to say; no one knew what to feel. They all watched as Cloud lowered her spiritless body into the waters. When he was done, they turned to leave, allowing him his privacy; all of them but one.

When Cloud returned to the shore, she was waiting for him, her arms open. He knew she knew the risk she was taking, the rejection that she might face and his heart, though hurting, swelled with need. Instead of rebuking her, as he had so many times before, he walked right to her and tore down all the walls. He cried and cried, his body shaking with sobs as her strong arms held him tightly. She cried with him and they stayed there for quite some time. She let him cry until he couldn't any more. She brushed her fingers across his cheeks, wiping away the tears.

"Soon, Cloud, it'll be okay soon."

And he believed.

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Revenge.

It consumed his mind, haunted his dreams and he was going to do absolutely nothing about it. He tasted it in his mouth when he woke up in the mornings.

Rusted iron and blood.

Pink ribbons fell, blood-stained, in his mind and there was nothing he wouldn't to cut that monster who killed her.

Aerith.

He felt guilty, knowing that Tifa knew where his every thought was. She could see it in his eyes, in the way that he looked at her. She felt that sometimes he woke up and wished to see lighter hair and a softer body laying close to him.

She knew that's what he wanted.

She heard him moan in his sleep, begging that the sword pass through anyone but her, anyone but Aerith. His hope, his light…

Everyone slowly began to fall apart at the lack of leadership on Cloud's part. They knew that they weren't strong enough to go fight Sephiroth, but it was all that Cloud could think about.

Hate consumed them.

Early one morning, Tifa awoke to one of the frequent arguments. She was going to just roll over and go back to sleep when she heard who was arguing.

"You're crazy, you know that? Why don't you go fight Sephie yourself, if you're so ready? Huh? Go, Blondie!"

Cid had never really been the sympathetic sort. Tifa jumped up, just in her pajamas, when she heard the door slam. She smacked Cid on the back of the head as she shot out into the street.

"Cloud! Cloud, stop! Please!"

He paused.

She ran up to him and letting go of all the walls she struggled to keep around her heart, she threw her arms around him. He felt her tears run down his throat. She pressed him to her, hoping that she would see how much she needed him to stay. He wrapped his arms around her waist gingerly, smelling the sweetness that always lingered around her.

"Teef."

"You listen here, Strife. I did not go through hell to get back to you just for you to run off and get yourself killed. You can wait, give me a month to train the rest of the team and we'll go, Cloud. I promise. Just stay. Stay here with me."

He was lost in ruby red oceans. He couldn't say no. It was as if she was looking straight into his heart. He was blushing, a rare occurrence for him. He felt her heart beating hard as she waited for his reply. She wanted him. She had always wanted him.

He nodded.

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She pushed her new body harder than she should have. Everything was so new to her. She could run faster, hit harder, go longer; everything in her was improved 110 percent.

But it made her hurt. Everything in her ached and she knew that Cloud saw every tight muscle, every wince. She kept going, kept pushing. She led the others on daylong training missions. They ran, they fought, they bled, they sweat and they begged to stop.

But they didn't. They all pushed. Cloud watched them, still fighting the idea of leaving without them. And he would have except he watched Tifa fight so he would stay. He watched her bleed and wince and heard her hold in her sobs. He knew the pain that she was going through, the effects that the mako was having on her system. So he stayed and watched out for her, making sure that she didn't go too far, push too hard, hurt herself beyond repair.

Everyone crashed after training all day. Tifa sat by the fire, using it's light to dress the fresh wounds that covered her body. She was shaking dizzy from the loss of blood and lack of food. Her fingers trembled and she dropped the ointment she was applying. Steady fingers picked it up from where it fell and rubbed the salve over her cuts. She brushed the blonde spikes away from his eyes, watching the shadows from the fire dance across his features. He was so dark and beautiful. His eyes shone bright even though the light was so dim.

"What?"

She jumped a little. She hadn't realized that he was finished dressing her arm and was now looking at her with a puzzled gaze.

"Is there something on my face?"

He brushed his fingers across his cheek, trying to get whatever was there. She giggled and grabbed his fingers.

"No, no. Nothing on your face."

Their fingers held each other. Their eyes locked on their entwined hands. She was so soft. It was unfair. He wanted to hold her, all of her. He traced his fingers up her arm, over her bandages. He rested his hands on her shoulders and looked into her wine eyes. She was shining. She wouldn't let herself smile, wouldn't let him know that this was all she wanted, just having him close. He knew that she was scared. He knew what he had done to her in these past months after Aerith's death.

Silly girl. It was so like her to be hurt because she didn't feel good enough for him, so like her to think that he didn't want her. She wouldn't believe that he was a monster, wouldn't believe that he was bad for her, that he was responsible for everything bad that ever happened to her, but she would hurt because she was sure that he didn't love her.

"Tifa?"

"Yes?"

She wouldn't meet his eyes. She was afraid of what he was going to say. She prided herself on her resilience, but when it came to Cloud, her defenses did not matter. He could break her with one word if he wanted to, with just a look. His fingers hooked underneath her chin and lifted her face. Her eyes met his, begging in a way to stop if this was going to hurt. She had done so much, pushed so hard.

"Tifa, if it had been you…" his voice trembled. He couldn't bear to think about it; holding her body in the Lifestream, letting her go, moving on without her. He couldn't do it and she deserved to know that.

"I- I want you here, with me. I don't wish for anything else. Not one other thing, you hear me? I lived too many years without you and I never want to go back to that. I can't go back to that. I need you here, only you. Got it? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Tears rained down his face. It was rare for Tifa to see Cloud so emotionally open. She nodded her head. She lifted his face and nodded her head. A giant lump was preventing her from speaking. She tried clearing her throat, but it only caused a few tears to escape from her eyes.

"You're everything to me, Teef. Everything."

She leaned over and gently kissed his cheek.

"Cloud?"

He met her eyes.

"Yes?"

"I love you, too."


	4. Chapter Four

Heat flushed through his veins. He hadn't felt this alive since...

He had_ never _felt this alive.

She was light and life and everything good and beautiful and he wanted her. He wanted her more than anything he had ever wanted in his life. He wanted her more than he had wanted to see Lucrecia round and glowing with his baby. He wanted her more than he wanted to be human. He wanted her to make him feel human. He was scared and he was excited. His heart pounded dangerously in his chest.

"Yuffie?"

She turned her small, gorgeous head. Her eyes brightened just a little, like they always did when taking in his face. He would never understand why she looked at him like that.

"Yes?"

He walked straight up to her and brushed his fingers against her pale, soft skin. He leaned into her, pressing his lips against her quivering rose petals.

"Vincent," she whispered.

He silenced her by pressing his lips a little harder against hers. He wrapped his fingers into her short, dark hair. She whispered a moan, moving her body a little closer to his.

"Vincent. Vincent, stop," she murmured.

He didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't let her go. Not for anything in the world.

"Vincent."

"Please."

It was the only thing he said. It was the only thing that he needed to say. She wrapped her arms around him. She let go of all the fears and walls that she had built to keep herself from getting hurt by him. He was the single most important thing to her. He had taken her heart without him even knowing. She had loved him always; she would love him always. She was giving in and it was so sweet, too sweet...

And he pushed her away.

With no warning.

He pushed her away and left.

She watched him walk away.

Away.

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He watched her.

He watched how she moved, her hair swishing around her curves, her muscles always tensed now, the mako putting her on edge all the time.

He watched how she smiled whenever Cid and Barrett argued over the silliest things. He watched how she snuck little glances at him, blushing when she saw him staring at her.

He watched as she would always move as he did, always repositioning herself to be as close to him as she could, without actually standing right next to him.

His arms longed to hold her. He hungered for her. He wanted her. All of her.

She loved him.

She loved him.

_She loved him._

She said it. To his face. He held on to those words tighter than any memory he ever had. It was better than seeing her again after seven years. It was better than being out under the stars in Nibelheim. It was better than saving her from Hojo. It was better than that sweet, small kiss he gave her. It was better than being in her arms. It was everything.

He needed her.

He would make her his.

He had to.

He was hesistant. He didn't want to try to make their relationship official with everything going on in their lives. Maybe it wasn't the time, but maybe there was no better time. He didn't know what would happen today or tomorrow or a week from now. But it's what he wanted, more than anything.

He had to make her his.

He couldn't live with himself if she was gone and he had never let her know everything that she meant to him. He couldn't die, leaving her here, never knowing that he loved her more than anything, everything. She deserved to know. She deserved to have him, after all she had done, all she had gone through to have him. He had watched her eyes freeze when he mentioned another woman. He had heard her crying whenever he came home after weeks of absence. He had known all along what she felt, but to hear her say it, to have lived without the warmth of her love, it was unbearable.

He had to make her his.

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"Yuffie?"

Her voice always sounded like angels. Damn her.

"Nothing," she sniffed.

Tifa laughed.

"I didn't ask."

She felt her best friend slide down next to her, her strong arms wrapped around her shoulders. She had done so well at fighting the tears. Stupid Tifa and her uncanny ability at making people spill their hearts out.

"I thought... I- I thought that hh-he was..."

She couldn't say it, couldn't admit it. Not to Tifa, not to anyone, not to herself.

Tifa just nodded, understanding all too well the feelings pumping through her little ninja heart.

"Shhhhh."

Tifa was warm and lovely, like hot chocolate on a snow day. She was the sister, the friend, the mom that Yuffie had always longed for.

"Want me to kick his ass?"

Yuffie giggled a rather crazy giggle. The mental image alone was enough to send her over the edge. Soon she was rolling on the ground, clutching her sides, laughing more than she had for months.

"Would you?" she mananged to gasp.

Tifa smiled.

"Anything for you."

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Everything was frozen; bones, blood, drinks, food. Teeth chattered audibly.

"Teef, please, please, please. I am begging you to let us set up camp in the village."

Everyone was sure that going down to Nibelheim and staying in the houses there was a good idea. It offered them warmth and a homey feeling that none of them had had in a long time. Tifa felt that it was unsafe and she wasn't the only one.

"No."

Heads snapped towards Vincent, who usually kept his mouth shut when it came to planning how things were going to be done.

"No, the village isn't safe. Hojo is lurking down there somewhere and it's too dangerous. I'm not taking Yuf-… you all… down there. It's too risky. He's a monster. Let's not forget that he had two other names on his list of people he wanted to test. I think Cloud and Tifa will be the first to tell you that you don't want what he's got waiting for you. Or maybe you should ask Zack."

Tifa flinched, clutching her arms around herself for comfort. She had tried hard to forget what had happened to her, to Zack. There wasn't one day, however, that she didn't think about him. It was truly a marvel how similar Zack and Cloud were. In fact, it was downright frightening. She used to joke with Aerith about it all the time. Tears were welling up in her eyes. She had to stop thinking about all of this. She would avenge Aerith and then she would set fire to that damn mansion for Zack. She would not rest until Hojo rued the day that he was born. A surprisingly warm hand rested on her shoulder.

"You're shaking."

She met brilliant blue oceans. He melted her. He had always been able to do that. She always spilled her guts to him, yelling, screaming, kicking walls and yet, at the same time, she felt calm in his presence, as if just having him by her side made everything better. And it did. She was absorbed in his spirit. She was secretly proud that he had let her in so much farther than anyone else. She held tightly to the fact that no one knew him like she did, that no one could know him like she did. She had seen inside his mind, she had pieced him back together, stitched his seams. She realized that she had been staring at him for far too long.

Her laugh came out a little nervous.

"Well, we are in the middle of a blizzard. What do you expect?"

He crinkled his eyebrows.

"You mean you're cold?"

"Um… Yes? Cloud, I didn't really anticipate this weather. Don't look at me like that! I didn't even get to pack for this mission! I was living in a cell! Cloud, -"

"Hush, silly."

His eyes brushed over every part of her body, looking for who knows what. He slid a glove off of his right hand and placed it on her cheek. His hands were shockingly soft. They always appeared so coarse to her. His hand moved down to her jugular vein, where his fingers softly pressed against her pulse. She swallowed and prayed that he wouldn't realize that her heart was beating a million times a minute because of him. He removed his hand from her skin and placed it on his own wrist, checking the pulse there.

"Vincent."

His voice was coated with emotion. It knocked the wind right out of Tifa. He sounded lost, hurt, terrified.

"What? What is it?"

Vincent's eyes shot straight to Tifa, looking her over.

"She looks fine, Cloud."

"How… how does her heart sound?"

Vincent stood silent for far too long.

"It… I don't know… She… seems fine. It sounds a little irregular, but she might have always sounded like that."

Cloud shook his head.

"No, she didn't. She had a certain rhythm, a certain beat. I could identify it anywhere, Vince, and that is not it."

Tifa realized that she should have been scared sick of what they were possibly suggesting, but all she could think was how unbelievably romantic it was that Cloud had memorized the sound of her heart.

"Tifa."

She looked up at him, eyes melting chocolate and strawberries. He smiled a fraction, unable to help himself. She was so beautiful.

"Tifa, you understand why this is strange?"

"No…"

"Tifa, Vincent and I… We're fine. Not cold at all."

She sat there, staring at him blankly.

"Geez, that's great, Cloud."

"No, no. You don't get it," he pressed a hand against his forehead. "Tifa, the mako."

Everything clicked.

And everything went dark.

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Everything was fire.

Fire and ice.

She was split open, torn apart; her body was ravaged, bruised, raped, beaten, bloody, damaged, done.

Nothing.

She was nothing, no good.

"Who would want to save you?"

Tears fell like tiny angels.

"Who would want to be your hero?"

She shook with sobs.

"Please, please stop."

She begged. She wept. She writhed in suffering.

"No, no, no, no, no."

She screamed. She suffocated. She bled.

Silver snaked hair and a cloak as dark as night.

"You're no good, Tifa. Nothing like her."

Pink ribbons and roses. Beautiful light hair cascaded down her angel skin. Her green eyes flashed as she smiled. She walked towards her, hand reaching out, mouth opening.

"Tell me what to do, Aerith. Don't leave me. Tell me what to do."

A shadow grew and fell upon her angel.

"Be strong."

Salt tears and blood soaked the earth.

"I can't, I can't, I can't."

Her voice broke.

"He needs you."

"Help me."

"I'm always here."

The shadow was growing larger and darker. The sun was falling fast.

"Don't forget about me."

He was here. She laughed in spite of her pain. She laughed like she hadn't laughed in months, years even.

"Zack."

"Right here, babe."

They were perfect. They were everything good and whole and pure in the world. And they were gone.

What kind of sickness was this?

"Be strong."

And suddenly, a massive, thin blade pierced the stomach of the woman Tifa loved so dearly. And Tifa screamed, feeling it in her heart: the cool, merciless steel, the slow thud of a perfect heartbeat, the world's loss, and her loss.

"Strong? Don't make me laugh."

And Sephiroth took her heart once more.

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He held her tightly, closely, resting her head against his heart. He hoped she could hear it through her nightmares and know that he was there. He knew it wouldn't help, not with a mako-induced nightmare, but it made him feel a little better having her so close.

"Cloud, again, this is not-"

"Can it, Vincent."

Cloud had swept Tifa up in his arms and was out of the cave before half of the team knew she had fainted. Yuffie exclaimed in triumph when she learned that Cloud was leading them back to Nibelheim.

"A warm bed, some cocoa, a fire…" she hummed excitedly.

Then she saw what was in Cloud's arms. Tifa. Tifa, Tifa, Tifa.

No, no, no, no, NO.

She was so small, so pale, and so lifeless.

Yuffie marched up to Vincent and ripped the cape from his back,

"Hey, what the he-" he stopped. The hand that went to grab for the thief was frozen mid-air. Yuffie pushed passed him, running to catch Cloud.

"Stop! Stop…" she huffed.

He paused for one second just to see what she wanted. If she had done anything else, he would have shoved her down and kept on his way.

She walked up to his arms and covered Tifa's body in the thin, red fabric. She tucked it around her, covering as much of her bare skin as she could. Tears were freezing on her face. She looked up at Cloud for one moment and went back to fetch her pack. Vincent caught her arm, held up her satchel, and took her hand. He didn't say anything and neither did she. They just walked, hand in hand, following a man carrying his heart in his hands.

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Everything was so… soft. Not like the mud, soaked with her blood, soft. She moved her fingers over cotton sheets.

"_What is this?"_

Her fingers continued down until they met skin, warm silk skin. She wrapped her fingers around his hand. She heard him mumble in his sleep. She didn't dare open her eyes. She wanted to stay here, like this, forever. She didn't want this to be a dream; some sweet heaven after the hell she had gone through. No this, this was going to last as long as she could have it. He smelled like the cold, like wind and rain and snow. He smelled like leather and the sweetest sweat. It's funny how he never seems to emit body odor. Was that one of the mako perks? Even if it was, it didn't change the fact that she was in desperate need of a shower. How long had it been?

"_Way too long."_

She sighed and released his perfect fingers. She expected to be sore and stiff when she sat up, but nothing on her ached except her neck. She recognized that house immediately. He had taken her to her own house, let her sleep in her own bed and had joined her, knowing that she would need him to get through this.

She stood and looked at him, really just looked at him. She always thought that most of his beauty came from his eyes; she had been so wrong. He was perfect in every way. His face was clear and smooth, his nose the perfect shape for his face. He had his mother's lips, full and pink. Truthfully, he looked just the same as he had when they had first met. Crazy, beautiful blonde hair, big, blue eyes, and that grin…

She would have stared at him forever, she wanted to, but she wanted to shower before he woke up. She didn't want him to wake up alone.

The water was hot and perfect and sweet. The pressure was therapeutic and relaxing. She hadn't taken a real shower since before she was taken. She felt the water pass over her scars. Her skin was red with the heat of the water, but she took it, enjoying every moment. She smelled like peaches and honey. She felt young and innocent to the evil in the world. She brushed through her long hair. She pulled on her cotton shorts and cotton shirt and went and lay back down on her cotton sheets.

"_Why couldn't we have had this?"_

She imagined life, had Cloud stayed with her, never leaving to join SOLDIER, never meeting Sephiroth, never forgetting himself, always coming home to her, always her. They would sleep on cotton sheets every night and hold hands and smell like leather and peaches and wind and honey. He admitted that he had affections for her. Why did he leave? Why didn't he stay to be with me?

"_Who would want to be your hero?"_

"Me, Teef. Always me."

She jumped. She didn't realize that he was awake or that she had even said that out loud. He nuzzled into her neck.

"Mmmmmm. You smell amazing. Reminds me of when we were little."

She grinned. His breath tickled her collarbone, but it wasn't unbearable. She would put up with it forever if only he would stay here. He sat up suddenly.

"I… I hope you don't mind that I slept here. I just… I didn't want to leave you alone… I was scared… You scared me, Teef. Don't be mad… Please. Understand? You just passed out and I was so… scared… And I couldn't leave you because I knew that you would wake up afraid… So I –"

"Hush, silly."

His smile almost knocked her over. She ruffled his hair.

"Don't ever leave me, Cloud. Not ever again," she whispered.

He leaned over and pressed his lips against her forehead.

"Promise me."

His forehead leaned against hers.

"I promise."

"Pinky promise?"

He laughed. He laughed and giggled and snorted and it was the happiest that she had seen him since Zack was around.

"Pinky promise? Oh, I haven't pinky promised anything since I was 11! Oh, Teef, being here does make you feel young again, doesn't it?"

His cheeks were flushed from laughing. She leaned over and pressed her lips against them. It was the first time she had ever initiated affection between them. It had been a silent rule that Cloud would let her know when he was ready. She built walls around herself to keep from reaching out to him. But now, now she needed him and he needed her and nothing was going to stop her from letting him know everything. Time was not in their hands.

"Cloud, listen, I… you should know that I…"

The front door slammed downstairs. Vincent smashed the door off of its hinges.

"She's gone. That son-of-a-bitch has her. Red's gone, too. I'm pretty surprised to see you actually."

His fist went through the wall.

"DAMN."

"Vincent, please stop punching my house. Let's go. We know where they are."

"_Tifa, always the voice of reason."_

Vincent stormed out of the house, blood boiling, anger flowing in his blood. Hojo will not take her away from him. This will not happen again…

_Again._

xxxxxxxxxx

_My bed was so warm…_

_Everything is so cold…._

_Vincent?_

"Vincent?"

Her heart froze at the sound of his whisper.

"Not quite."

So, this wasn't her bed, after all. She found herself on an operating table. Everything was cold and metal, sterile, heartless.

"Yuffie?"

She recognized the gruff voice.

"Red? Oh no…"

"Looks like he got to us after all, huh?"

Yuffie turned her head to the left and right, searching for a sign of her only companion. She found him on her right, chained to a table exactly like her own. He gave her a weak smile.

"They'll come. You know they'll come."

Hojo cackled.

"Of course they will! And I wonder who'll die this time. Eheeeheeheehee."

Yuffie was seriously going to beat the shit out of this guy when she was out of here.

_Heartless mother –_

"Hojo."

"Oh, Gaia!" Hojo exclaimed.

He twisted around to face his creation.

"Vincent Valentine. Eheeheehehee. Come to save your love? We all know how well that worked out the last time don't we?"

Vincent's eyes turned to slits.

"What?"

Yuffie looked straight at Vincent, not even quite sure of what she was looking for.

"Ahhh, maybe_ we _don't know. Eheehee. Why don't you fill everyone in Vincent? Why don't you tell everyone who is responsible for creating Sephiroth?"

Tifa and Cloud froze in the entrance. Cid and Barrett swore. Cait Sith sat in the corner. And Yuffie closed her eyes; afraid of the words she was about to hear.

His voice was broken when he began.

_Lucrecia._

_She was beautiful and perfect and everything I thought I wanted in a woman. She was serious and somber, but when she smiled… It was as if everything good in the world was sewn together. She was a scientist, working in this very lab, that's how I met her. She was Hojo's girlfriend at the time, nothing serious to him, but everything to her. I knew he was fooling around with other women; I'd seen him out on many of my missions._

_I met her after a terrible accident. No one thought I was going to live through it; I tore a lot of my skin off, tore muscles, broke bones… But she fixed me, in more ways than one. She was beauty as I had never seen it. Her heart was so big, so welcoming, so warm and everything in the place seemed to be the very opposite of her._

_I wanted to bust her free, let her live a life outside of this small village and her sterile life. I wanted to show her the world. I wanted to take her so far away from here and make her smile everyday, all day… I just wanted to make her happy._

_I found her in the lab one night, sobbing, shaking and so broken that I thought I would vomit my heart. She had found out about Hojo's women. I wanted to rip his throat out, I wanted to slit his wrists and watch him suffer. And then she said it._

"_I love him."_

_It killed me. It killed me to hear those words come from her mouth. It killed me to know that her love, her perfect, beautiful love was being wasted on him. I left. I left her there alone and I couldn't look at her again._

_And then the news came. The wedding. Never watch the one you love marry someone who isn't you. It ruined me. I swore that I would never love again, not for the rest of my days. If I couldn't have her, then I would have no one. If I couldn't have her, then there was no one._

_I loved her every day of her marriage. I loved her every day of her… pregnancy._

_He had a sick obsession with power and perfection. Jenova was the perfect pet for him. And so he created a little monster and used his wife as his experiment._

_I tried. I tried so hard to make her leave him. I tried to tell her that she needed to kill that thing inside of her. I tried to tell her that what she was doing was not science. It was not for the greater good. It wasn't even for her. It was for her demented husband's sick pleasures._

_She kissed me. She really kissed me, her round belly pressing against me and I imagined that it were my baby inside of her. And we were happy and we were perfect. I was convinced that we were made to be together._

_She died giving birth to that demon._

_She looked me straight in the eyes when he came out and she said, "You were right. You were always right. I'm so sorry. I love you, Vincent. I love you."_

_And after she was buried, Hojo made me into a monster, so that I could live forever with the guilt of her death._

_And I have._

_And I thought that I always would…._

"But, I've met someone beautiful and pure and full of light and goodness. I've met someone who smiles when she sees me and smiles when I'm around and smiles when I accidently brush my arm against hers and smiles when I kiss her and smiles when we laugh. And I love her. I love her and you have her and I will kill you before you can get your sleazy fingers on her."

xxxxxxxxxx

His fingers twitched. His whole body was shaking with anger; no, not anger - hot, fiery fury that leaked out of every pore. He had promised that he was going to take care of her, protect her, hold her and watch her and she was on the other side of this damn lab and she was so small and shaking in her porcelain skin. He needed her back in his arms.

"Okay, Vincent. If you want her so bad, take her."

Hojo's voice was smooth silk, sounding so honest, so pure of heart. A low growl escaped Vincent's chest.

"No? And why not, Vinnie? Scared? Scared you're going to hurt her?"

His arm flew up to grab that bastard's throat, but soft skin intercepted his and those muscles were too strong for him to withstand.

"Well, well, well. Tifa Lockheart. Long time, no see, eh?"

"Can't say that I missed you, asshole."

Tifa turned and locked eyes with Vincent. There was a warning, though it was one that he didn't quite understand. There was sadness and anger and pain in her ruby eyes, something that told him that he needed to be careful. And then he realized where they were and that she had followed him into her own personal hell to make sure that he would be smart and safe. A small grin formed on her lips and she lowered his arm and stepped away.

Cloud stood in the entryway, scanning for a way to get out of here with his companions. He was standing in the only exit, so it was starting to look like the only way to get out of here was to kill the man standing thirty feet away from him.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? I wouldn't try it."

"And why is that?" Vincent spat.

"Does anyone remember Zack Fair?"

Tifa tensed, as though she was just smacked across the face. Cloud clenched his fists, ready to punch someone's face in.

"You know, no one ever seemed to care about him. It was only when Tifa was taken that anyone ever came for him. Sad. He would talk about you, you know." Hojo said, turning to Cloud. "Talked about how you were his best friend, how you were an idiot because you were never going to tell the girl you loved how much she meant to you, how you were the only reason he never gave up hope because he knew that one day you were going to come for him. What I find so funny is that the night I threw your girl into his cell, he was all over her. They had quite the little romance brewing while you and his girl were desperately searching for them. Can you blame them, though? I mean, after you've been forgotten about for so long, how could you not feel compelled to forget, too? Why should you have meant anything to him when he so clearly didn't mean anything to you?"

Blood gushed from his nose. Tifa reared her fist back again and connected with his jaw. She grabbed a fist of his hair and shoved his head into the wall. He slumped down to the floor, eyes half opened. She shoved her foot into his rib cage and pressed until she heard something crack.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" she screeched.

She raised her leg again, but someone slipped his arms around her waist and lifted her away from Hojo's broken body. Tears were streaming from her eyes and she didn't resist being carried away from the man she had beaten to the brink of death. Vincent set her down and her knees buckled. She fell to the floor, her arms instinctively reached out to catch her fall.

"Grab Yuffie."

That was the only thing she heard Cloud say. He came over to her then and picked her up into his strong arms. She closed her eyes and kept them closed until they were back in her house. She felt him lower her onto her bed. Tears stung behind her eyelids as she felt his arms leave her. Of course he wouldn't want to stay.

And then she felt him slide in next to her and suddenly his lips were at her ear.

"I'm not mad at you. How can I blame you? You've loved me for so long, Tifa. And I never even hinted that I might reciprocate those feelings. You'd been waiting for me to save you since we were kids. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was never there. I'm sorry that I took so long to get to you and I don't even mean when you were taken. I mean that I could have had years with you. We could be married and have babies by now. We could be happy and safe and I could have protected you from anyone who would have ever wanted to hurt you. They took you because of your strength, Tifa, your inner strength. You've always been so strong, so loving, so caring even though no one has ever taken care of you the way you take care of others. I should have been your strength. I should have taken care of you instead of leaving you behind in that forsaken village. It's my fault that this ever happened, Tifa. It's my fault that I could never find the right words to tell you how much I love you. Maybe I never will, but as long as you know that I'm searching for those words, it's good enough for me."

He kissed her. He kissed her like he had never kissed her before, rolling over top of her, shielding her body with his body, always ready to shelter her, protect her. She kissed back, apologies forming in the way she moved her lips with his.

xxxxxxxxxx

It was the loudest silence he had ever heard. He didn't know if she was angry or hurt or shocked or disgusted. He didn't know if she loved him or hated him. They sat a foot away from each other, both staring down at their hands.

"So, you love me, eh?"

He smiled, he couldn't help but smile. She sounded so soft, so unsure, a trace of hope coloring the tone of her voice.

He reached his fingers out to brush her cheek.

"Forever."

She bit her lip and met his eyes.

"That works out nicely then because I love you, too."

And then they weren't a foot apart anymore. They weren't even an inch apart. He held her close and kissed her cheeks, her eyes, her neck, her lips. Her skin tasted so sweet, she was so sweet and she was so his. He paused.

"Are you okay? I mean, did he hurt you at all?"

She shook her head.

"I don't think I was there longer than a few hours. You're pretty speedy."

She winked at him and he lay down with her on top of him.

xxxxxxxxxx

She was screaming. It tore through his ear drums, straight down into his heart. It pierced him. He knew that pain well, the familiar sting of watching someone you love die, the ripping of flesh from bone, the injections, the hurt, the hurt, the hurt. He could do nothing. He couldn't shake her awake. He couldn't hold her in his arms. He had to sit and listen and watch as she thrashed under the sheets, fighting demons that had nestled into her subconscious.

She had nightmares almost every night since rescuing Yuffie and Red. She called his name a lot. Not Cloud – Zack. She screamed and she sobbed and she begged. And this was something also all too familiar to Cloud Strife – guilt. Tifa woke up every morning with red, puffy eyes. She faked a little smile, gave Cloud a quick peck, and went into the bathroom for an hour. Tifa never took that long in the bathroom. He knew that she stood in the shower and cried until no more tears would come. He knew that she stood in front of the mirror until all traces of crying were gone. And he knew that when she finally emerged, she was not his Tifa. She was a wall. She was fake smiles and empty laughter and pain. Her eyes gave her away. Those brilliant eyes had lost their sparkle.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He couldn't talk to her; he was never good with words. But he knew that she was suffering, wilting away into a depression that once she gave herself into, there was no coming out of it.

The worst part about all of this was that he knew that she had done everything she could to bring Cloud out of his misery. She had filled him up with all of her goodness and light and love and tried so hard to fix all of the scars that ripped open in his nightmares. He was so useless. He was not her. He could not fix her. It ate at him, tore him to pieces because he knew that if it was reversed, she would be at his side every minute of everyday, telling him that everything was going to be okay. So why wasn't he doing that for her? What was keeping him from breaking down those walls the same way she had torn his?

He watched as tears streamed from her still closed eyes. She was whimpering, a helpless child begging for relief. He took a deep breath, kicked off his shoes, and slid into the bed beside her. His arm curved around the shape of her small frame. She was so soft and so sweet, but so tough. He could feel the definition of the muscles in her arms. He saw the bruises on her knuckles where her gloves had been wearing thin. He would find her new gloves tomorrow, something to hopefully cheer her up. She had always been a fighter and he imagined how she would look when she opened the gift. Her eyes would light up and she would grin, the feeling so unfamiliar to her that she would look a little puzzled. And her skin would retain its creamy glow and she would be better if only for a minute. Yes, he would buy her new gloves and flowers and he would take care of her just like she always took care of him.

It was new, caring about someone so deeply. The desire to hold her in his arms forever was overpowering. She had not stirred, had not cried, had not shaken since he had joined her. He knew she safe in his arms and it would take the power of all the earth to tear her from his grasp. His heart was lying in his arms, softly breathing, resting. He could see the creases on her forehead disappear slowly as she fell into a pleasant slumber. He kissed her hair. Once, twice, three times, again, again, and again. Yes, he would keep her safe. It was time for him to step up and be no longer afraid of loving this woman. He would not shut her out, he would not leave her, and he would not make her wonder where his affections lied. He would love her; he would love her like he had never loved another human being. There was no guilt, no shame, and no disgrace in this love. He was no longer the monster that kept him from opening his heart to her. He was no monster in the first place. Watching her struggle in the same war that had ravaged his soul made him realize that he was not evil, he was not a puppet, he was simply lost, a child reaching out his hand for someone to save him. And someone did save him. She saved him without ever asking for anything in return. And he would save her.

xxxxxxxxxx

Everyone sat in silence. The tension in the room was so thick, so suffocating. Arms were crossed, lips were pressed into tight lines, and anger was seeping from every pore.

"How much longer are we just going to sit around here, Spiky?

Cid was the angriest of them all; he was also the most impatient. His temper was what started the feud among the team.

"Perhaps you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but your anger is uncalled for here, Cid. We're trying our best to be the safest and most prepared that we can be. You have no idea what this man – this monster- is capable of. So don't start, you hear me?"

"I don't know what he's capable of, eh? So I guess it wasn't him I watched run Aerith through then, huh? I know what he's done and I'm ready to go out and give him what he deserves. Damn it, Cloud! What about Aerith? We all know you fancied her! It was obvious! But I guess now that you've distracted yourself with Tifa, you're not so upset about her dying are you?"

A hand flew at his face, smacking him across the cheek. He fell over from the impact and rubbed the stinging skin. Dark brown hair swished in his face as strong arms lifted him by his shirt. Soon he was staring in ruby red eyes.

"Don't ever… I can't believe that you…. I- I- I-…"

And then those beautiful ruby eyes filled with tears and rivers flowed down the curve of Tifa's cheeks. She released him and sat down, wrapping her arms around knees. Cloud hesitated in approaching her, not sure which of Cid's words had upset her the most. Sobs shook her whole body and melted away the fury written across everyone's face. Instinctively, everyone reached out their hands to comfort her, but no one moved.

"Tifa, listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it. I don't know why I said the things that I said. I was angry and so damn stupid. Please, please quit crying."

"You don't understand."

"I know, I know. I don't understand."

"No, Cid. You don't understand what he's capable of."

She stood up and unzipped the leather jacket that she wore. She slightly lifted her shirt until a pale pink line was visible. It started at her left hipbone and ran up the right side of her ribcage. She had many other scars; thin, white ones were the doctor had opened her up, torn her skin, injected mako. They all looked like nothing compared to this one scar.

"This is what he's capable of."

Cloud had quit breathing. It was his worst nightmare over and over again; Tifa's barely alive body in his arms, her blood pooling at his knees. _Sephiroth. _He'd taken a sword to an angel and cut off her wings. Tifa had never been the same after what he did to her. Her smile was always a little emptier than before, the twinkle in her eye was always duller, but most of all the fire that made Tifa who she is was burning a little weaker.

"Tifa, I didn't know…"

"That's right Cid. You _didn't_ know. So I take full responsibility as to why we're still here because Cloud doesn't want to see this happen to me again. I don't want to see it happen to any of you. I lost a very special friend. I don't want to lose any of you, too. So, yes, it's taking a long time, but I want to know that we're ready. We **have** to be ready. And we have to be able to work together as a team because if we can't, he'll kill us, every last one."

She walked away, leaving everyone in utter amazement. She was so strong. Maybe Cloud wasn't the leader after all.

"Listen, Cloud, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't mean…"

"It's cool, Cid. I know. Now, if you'll excuse me."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Bite me."

Vincent sighed and rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't work like that."

"Do it anyway."

He chuckled and tackled the black haired beauty so that they were lying down next to each other on the bed. She placed her hand in his as they both gazed up at the ceiling.

"Why won't you let me be a vampire, too, Vinnie?"

"You're not a monster and I'm not going to turn you into one."

"But I'll grow up, Vincent. I'll grow up and get old and I'll die and you won't have me around anymore. What are you going to do then? Or are you just waiting for that to happen so you can find someone else?"

She playfully nudged his ribs. He cracked a smile, but only for a second. Before she knew it, he was straddling her, holding her arms over her head, with his knees on either side of her ribs. He looked her straight in the eyes and lowered his lips to her throat. Gently, ever so gently, his teeth grazed her skin. She gasped, but not in pain. He could hear her heartbeat quicken, could feel her pulse beating harder, and could hear her breathing as she softly gasped. He bit a little harder. She moaned and squirmed underneath of him. He liked this. He liked filling her with this pleasure. But he had to be careful. He kissed her throat, kissed her lips and slid off from on top of her.

"No fun," she grumbled.

He laughed.

"If that won't turn me into a vampire, what will?"

"Two things, but I'm only telling you one. If I were to bite you in one of my other forms, then you would be infected."

"Tell me the other one."

"I said I would tell you one."

"I want to know what it is."

"I can't do that."

"Please."

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No means no, Yuffie."

She propped herself up on her elbow and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Vincent, I'm so curious."

She pressed her lips to his throat once, twice, three times. She trailed the outline of his jaw. She gently kissed his cheeks, his temple, his forehead, and back down to the corner of his lips. She paused there and ran her hand up his shirt, sending chills through his whole body. Her fingers ran across his skin so lightly. He felt amazing. He_wanted_ her. He wanted to flip over on top of her, rip off her clothing and…

"Yuffie, stop, please."

She looked like she had been smacked.

"No, no, no… Please, don't misunderstand."

She wrapped her arms around herself and he could see tears forming in her eyes.

"A vampire can only have one mate, one, that's it for his entire life."

"And yours was Lucrecia?"

Her voice sounded so broken and so hollow.

"No, no, no… A mate, Yuffie, like how you "mate" Chocobos."

"Ohhhh… Oh… oh."

"Because of this, if I were to have, um, relations with a woman who was not already a vampire, it would change her. You would be like me, honey. I can't do that to you. I can't take away your humanity just for sex."

It was silent for a long time.

"It wouldn't just be for sex, Vincent."

"Yuffie, you don't…"

"It would be because you wanted to spend the rest of forever with me."

He felt frozen.

"Yuffie… Yuffie, I do. I will never want to be with anyone else."

"If I were to be changed, would I turn into other things, too?"

"No, no, that was just Hojo's special addition."

"Then change me."

"Yuffie…"

"Change me, Vincent."

"I can't."

"_Fuck_ me."

The feeling that coursed through his body at those words was unlike anything he had ever felt.

"What?"

"Make love to me; fuck me, whatever you want to call it."

"Yuffie, I want to, but I can't."

She grabbed his face and pulled it to hers. She kissed him and it wasn't gentle. She grabbed his shirt and lifted it up, over his head and threw it to the floor. His fingers greedily ran over her body, pulling her shirt off, as well. Skin on skin and she was so beautiful. She kissed his neck, his collarbones, and his chest, down his stomach and stopped at the button of his pants. She crawled back up next to him and lay down. She unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down her legs. She did the same thing with her underwear and then she climbed under the blankets.

"The next move is yours, Vinnie, but I'm ready."

xxxxxxxxxx

She was in the garden when he found her.

"Tifa?"

She didn't even turn around. She didn't even flinch, but then he realized that she must have heard him coming.

"I forget that you can hear everything now," he chuckled.

"I forget that you don't really belong to me."

The words cut into him. He was stunned, he was speechless, he was bewildered, but most of all, he was so disappointed in himself.

"I'm such an idiot," she said. "I was so happy. I was so sure this time that you wanted me. I was so…"

Tears hit the dirt in tiny mud puddles. She didn't sob, she didn't gasp, she didn't shake and if he hadn't seen her tears fall, he wouldn't have even known she was crying. He wanted to walk up to her and wrap his arms around her waist. He wanted to hold her so close and never let her go. He wanted all of the love that he had in his heart that was all hers to seep into her skin. He wanted her to feel how much she meant to him.

"I never loved her."

She turned and bore her eyes into his.

"Prove it."

He should have known that she wouldn't just take him at his word; Tifa never just takes someone at his word. There's always got to be proof with this woman. He sighed and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out an old, faded leather wallet, something she had never seen him carry. He opened it and pulled out a picture so old that it was almost entirely yellow.

"This is the first picture we'd ever had taken together."

He pulled out a tiny gold locket necklace.

"This is what was around your neck the night that Sephiroth attacked you. I kept it to clean it so that it would be as good as new when you got better. But they never let me see you and so I kept it to always have a piece of you."

Then he pulled out a piece of paper that looked as though it had been folded and unfolded a thousand times. He opened it and read,

"_Dear Tifa Lockheart,_

_I'm afraid that I will never have the guts to just come right out and say this to you. I'm rather spineless when it comes down to it. I want you to know that I miss you more than I ever thought would be possible. I spend every minute of everyday thinking about you, wondering what adventures you've gone off on, hoping that you're safe and that you're okay. Remember when we were younger and we saw all of those couples kissing and we thought it was so gross? And they said, "Hey, one day you'll fall in love and you'll understand." Well, I understand now, Tifa. I understand because I've fallen in love with you and I want nothing more than to wrap you up in my arms and kiss you. I want to kiss you until the sun sets and rises again. I want to hold you and protect you and keep you safe. I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep beside you every night. I want to marry you, Tifa. I want you to be mine and only mine, forever. I'm going to finish SOLDIER and then I'm going to come home and be the man that you deserve. I'm going to be strong for you and take care of you and someday, take care of our family, too. I love you, Tifa, with my whole heart. I always will. You're the girl for me._

_Yours forever and always,_

_Cloud Strife._

He folded it back up and put it in his wallet.

"And this," he said, holding up the wallet. "This is the first present you ever gave me."

"I found it in a sandbox when we were four…"

He smiled.

"I know."

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. His tongue traced the lines of her lips. He wrapped his arms around her and they were as close and as tight as they could possibly get.

"I love you, Tifa; always have, always will."

xxxxxxxxxx

Yuffie lay curled up on her side, breathing slowly, obviously asleep. Vincent lay in the same position that he had been in hours before; he had not moved; he had not touched her. How could she ask him to do this? Didn't she understand that he couldn't take away her humanity?

_It would be because you wanted to spend the rest of forever with me._

He couldn't get her voice out of his head.

_I'll grow up, Vincent. I'll grow up and get old and I'll die and you won't have me around anymore. What are you going to do then?_

What would he do? She was everything; the entire reason that he continued existing. He needed… He needed her. Forever. For always.

His fingers slowly undid the button of his pants. He stood up and pulled them off. He paused. What was he doing?

"_Selfish_," he thought.

It didn't matter; only she mattered, only being able to keep her with him mattered. He slid off the rest of his clothing and climbed back into the bed. He put his hand on her arm and his lips on her neck. She groaned and opened her eyes.

"…Vinnie?"

And his lips were on her lips and his chest was on her chest and her legs were wrapped around him and everything was so good and everything was so right and everything was so perfect.

He felt this entirely new connection with her. He was hers, totally and completely. He always would be. He was aware that the vampire venom was now coursing through her body; it was a painful poison and there was no way she wasn't in agony. He held her shaking body in his arms. She did not cry or scream or beg; she held it all in because she did not want him to know that she was in pain. She had a hard enough time getting him to do it; she didn't need him feeling guilty for a hundred years or something.

He stayed up with her the entire night. When she finally stopped shaking, he was almost afraid to look at her. But she turned her eyes up towards his and he smiled. They were the same beautiful brown that they had always been, just outlined in red. She was so stunning.

"I love you, Yuffie."

"I love you, Vincent."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Close your eyes and get some sleep."

Cloud breathed a laugh. He sat up in bed and looked towards the doorway. Even her silhouette was extremely attractive. He could hear the smile in her voice. They both knew that it would be almost impossible to fall asleep that night, perhaps their last night together, perhaps the last night either of them was alive. He reached over to turn the lamp on and stretched his arms out to her in an invitation. She practically ran to him, falling into his arms to seek comfort from what she feared the most: that she would no longer have him.

"Tell me it will all be okay," she whispered.

"I wish I could."

He held her closely and memorized the scent of her hair, the softness of her skin, the feel of her breath… He would do whatever it took to keep her safe. He knew that she was completely capable of holding her own; she always had, even before she was injected with mako. He hated to think that she would be in danger; she would have to face what she fears the most, but he would be there to protect her. He lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were filled with tears. She was trying to avoid looking into his eyes. He kissed her forehead.

"I'm going to keep you safe. Trust me, Tifa. I am going to keep you safe."

She placed her hands on either side of his face and held it tightly.

"You listen to me, Cloud Strife. Don't you dare try to watch my back tomorrow; I can handle myself. You protect you and don't let me distract you. If you die trying to protect me, I will never forgive you, you hear me? I will hate you for the rest of my life."

He laughed.

"I'm not joking."

He kissed her.

"You're so cute."

"Cloud…"

"Shhhh…"

"Cloud! I'm not joking!"

"Tifa," he sighed. "You are the most important thing to me in this entire world, understand? I am going to make sure that you are okay no matter what. I will not promise you anything because it is my job as your boyfriend…"

"As my what?"

He cleared his throat. His heart was pounding and his mouth felt dry and he felt rejected, but he wasn't quite sure why and he wanted to hold her closer and he wanted to hide all at the same time.

"I mean, I just…"

She stared at him relentlessly.

"I love you, Tifa. I really, truly do. I want to be with you. I want to be with you every day for the rest of my life. I want to live with you and marry you and have a family someday. I want to keep you safe. I want to cook you breakfast and help you cook. I want all of it with you and I'm so sorry that I waited this long to ask you because now we may never know what it's like to have that, but if we survive tomorrow, I want to know that you'll be with me."

"I'll be with you, Cloud. I already am."

xxxxxxxxxx

She was entirely too terrified to go to sleep. All she could picture was his body, dying in her arms. The words, "I could have loved you" rang in her ears. She couldn't lose Cloud the way she lost Zack. She couldn't be the reason she never saw Cloud smile or heard him laugh or held his hand or kissed his face. She cuddled herself closer to his sleeping body or at least what she thought was asleep.

"Sleep, beautiful."

And then all at once, she was sobbing. His arms were around her in a moment, his lips were in her hair and she knew he was trying to make her feel better, but she only felt worse. Why does everything she loves have to be in a constant state of being taken away? Every day is a constant fight for what she wants.

"Tell me what's on your mind, Tifa."

"No."

He squeezed her tightly.

"Please help me to understand what you're scared of."

Everything was silent for a long time and she hoped that he'd fallen asleep when she started speaking.

"Ten years ago, the man that we have to face tomorrow almost killed me and you were there. You held my body as the life was leaking away from me. I am terrified of what might happen tomorrow. I am terrified because I held Zack in my arms as he died. I saw what his death did to Aerith. I just… I can't lose you tomorrow or any other day because I love you more than anything and you are a part of me. You are every part of me and if something happens to you because you're trying to keep me safe, I will never be able to live with myself. I lost my best friend because he saved my life and I struggle with it every day. Please don't leave me… Please, honey… I just… I love you so much."

He kissed her. _So he wasn't asleep_, she thought. It didn't matter because suddenly, nothing mattered. All there was to worry about was his smell, his taste, his lips. She wondered if tonight would be the night that he would take the next step, if he was finally emotionally ready to let himself be as close to her as humanly possible. His fingers were pulling at her shirt and his hips were pressed against her hips. His breath became hot and quick and she had butterflies in her stomach and she wanted more.

"We have to stop."

She froze. Her throat dried and tears stung in her eyes.

"Um, yeah. You're right…"

She turned on her side, away from him and closed her eyes.

"Tifa, no. Please don't misunderstand… I want to… I do… I just… not tonight, not with things so unpredictable. If something were to happen to me tomorrow after you gave yourself to me… I can't leave you like that."

He wrapped his arms around her and cuddled into her shoulder. She took a deep breath and turned around to face him again.

"You're right. Thank you."

xxxxxxxxxx

The morning was chilly and grey. It wasn't raining, but there was a slight mist. Everyone was shaking, but it was more from nerves than from the cold.

"Is everyone sure that they are willing to do this?"

No one spoke. No one wanted to do this; it was terrifying. But they wouldn't turn their backs on each other, not now. It was important that they fight this battle for Aerith, for Tifa, for Cloud, for everyone that Sephiroth ever hurt.

"Thank you."

Her voice was so small and she wouldn't look anyone in the face.

"Oh, Tifa. Anything for you."

Yuffie wrapped her arms around her best friend.

"Let's get going."

Vincent grabbed Yuffie's hand and squeezed it. He had never been so terrified in his life, not even when Lucrecia was dying. He loved this girl so much that losing her would literally be the end of him. If she died, he would follow soon after. He would do his best to kill this monster that ripped Lucrecia to pieces; he owed her that.

"Scared, Vinnie?"

"Beyond scared, Yuff."

He tried to smile for her and she held his hand tighter.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

xxxxxxxxxx

No one talked the entire trip. It took about half the day to get to the cave.

"Let's rest," Cloud said.

"Oh, hell yes," Cid mumbled.

The silence was heavy. It was strange for them to feel fear; they had always been a strong team with complete faith in their abilities. Perhaps it was because Cloud was so frightened, though that probably had more to do with Tifa than anything else.

"We can do this!"

"Shut up, Cait."

Tifa giggled, which made Cloud smile. Yuffie was rolling on the ground and Cid's laugh boomed through the mountains. Barrett cleared his throat.

"Ehhh, sorry. Reflex."

Everyone laughed and laughed, mostly because it felt so good to be happy for a few minutes.

"Listen," Cloud started. "If it gets bad, don't stick around. Get yourself safe, okay?"

"We're with you to the end, Cloud."

"To the end."

"To the end."

"To the end."

"To the end."

"To the end."

"To the end," Tifa whispered.


	5. Chapter Five

The walls were ice cold. The air was thick and frozen. Every breath burned their lungs, but they pushed forward. They shook from the temperature and nerves. Cloud and Vincent took the front, using their enhanced senses to make sure everything was safe. Yuffie and Tifa took the back to ensure that they were not being followed and that they wouldn't be taken by surprise. No one spoke. No one looked each other in the eye. Everyone coursed with fear. No one knew why they continued to put one foot in front of the other. Tifa pictured two beautiful children – Marlene and Denzel – and she knew that she had to continue to keep them safe. She had no idea where they were and prayed that they had the sense to seek shelter with Aerith's mother, especially since she was certain Cloud hadn't had the mind to take them there himself. She pictured what her life would be like after this fight: Cloud and the children sitting at a table in the bar, waiting for her to finish supper. Everyone cuddled up, watching movies, family outings, grocery shopping; all the things she ever wanted with Cloud. She wouldn't be able to leave here without him today and she didn't want to consider what she'd have to do if he were to not make it.

"Tifa, did you hear that?" Yuffie whispered.

She nodded.

"Someone is following us."

The two girls waited until they could hide between crevices in the cave wall. Silently, they slipped in and waited. Four beats went by and two tall shadows crept by; one was tall and bulky, the other slender. They moved as if they were walking on air; they would have been impossible to detect if not for the slight sound their clothes made as they slid through the cave. Their heartbeats were similar to Tifa's and she knew that they wouldn't be easy opponents. It slowly dawned on her that they shouldn't have separated from the others; no one knew they were gone, no one knew they would need help. She locked eyes with Yuffie.

_We can't do this by ourselves_, she mouthed. Yuffie nodded her agreement. She, too, could tell that they were not normal humans.

_Who are they? _Yuffie asked. Tifa shook her head.

They slipped out and began to follow the two shadows.

"Yazoo, Loz. I think we have company."

Tifa gasped and turned around to face a third shadow.

"Hello, Tifa. These are my brothers, Yazoo and Loz. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Kadaj."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Where is she?"

"Cloud, I- I don't know – "

"Where the FUCK is she?"

He was shaking with rage. He wanted to punch a hole through something, mostly Barrett's face.

"She was right behind me… I can't even tell you when she went missing… I just… I am so sorry."

"I'll go find them."

"Wait, Vincent," Red said. "We shouldn't split up even more. We need to be careful."

"I need to find Yuffie."

"He's right, Vincent," Cid stated. "We'll all go back."

"No. We should split up. We'll be quieter that way," Cait said.

"I don't care how we go, we just need to go."

Cloud knew that Tifa would not have just wandered off. She was in trouble and she would need help and he wasn't there. He promised to keep her safe and he had already failed.

"Vincent, Cid, you come with me. Barrett, Red, Cait, you stay here. If anything seems off, Barrett, fire a round. We'll come right back. Got it? Good. Let's go."

xxxxxxxxxx

A cold sweat had spread across her skin.

"You must be Yuffie."

"What's it to you?"

The three shadows chuckled.

"We have specific instructions involving a Miss Tifa and a Miss Yuffie. We would hate to take care of the wrong people."

"And by take care of, you mean…"

"Kill."

Tifa's fist flew through the air and locked with Kadoj's jaw.

"Run, Yuffie."

"No – "

"I'm not joking."

Tifa turned and pulled Yuffie to the ground as Loz was swinging an electrified weapon in her direction. It seemed to be some sort of tazer attached to his arm. Yuffie swung her legs around and knocked him to the ground. He was face-down on the ground; she straddled his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Suddenly, she was flying through the air. She smacked into the rock. A fist flew towards her face, but Tifa's kick connected with Yazoo's torso and it was his turn to fly through the air.

"Kadaj has a sword. Watch out."

Blood was streaming from Tifa's arm.

Yuffie opened her mouth to make sure she was okay, but her eyes caught a glint of metal. She grabbed her shuriken and deflected the blade before it ran her through. She pushed up and threw her weapon as hard as she could. She saw it graze Kadoj's arm and smiled as he screamed. She turned, kicked off the wall, and caught her shuriken in the air. Yuffie turned and saw a blur of long, dark hair and a body four times her size. She was dodging Loz's Duel Hound as best as she could. Yuffie couldn't risk throwing because she might hit Tifa.

New problem: Kadoj was approaching her rapidly, Yazoo was coming to from Tifa's kick. _I need a plan_, Yuffie thought. _Think, think, think_. Her reflexes kicked in. She threw the shuriken again; it cut through Kadoj's arm. He dropped his sword and fell to the ground. His screams echoed through the cave. Yazoo hesitated, giving Yuffie enough time to turn to attack. However, it was unnecessary. Loz's body flew into him with enough force to knock them both against the wall. They slid down, unconscious. Tifa moved forward and kicked Kadoj in the head so hard, Yuffie would be surprised if he ever woke up again.

She rushed forward to her best friend.

"Tifa, are you okay? Let me see your arm…"

Tifa rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I'm fine."

But her arm was red and the cut was swollen.

"Tifa, this should have healed by now. The mako should have made this heal by now."

Yuffie walked over to Kadoj's blade. Lodged in the handle was a dark ball of materia.

_Poison_

"Tifa, we need to get you out of here. Now."

All of the color had drained from Yuffie's face; she didn't know what to do or how much time Tifa had before it was too late. All of the supplies were with the others and there was no telling how far ahead they had gotten. She needed an Antidote and she needed it now.

"Yuffie, I don't feel so good."

Tifa was stumbling and her skin was moist with sweat. She grabbed Yuffie for support; she was fading fast. Suddenly she was on her hands and knees, vomiting a mixture of green fluid and blood.

"Yuffie… Please."

"Hold on, hold on, hold on."

Tears were forming in her eyes as she watched her best friend struggle with sickness. She couldn't leave her, but there was no way that Tifa would be able to make it anywhere.

"I don't know what to do," she sobbed.

Another rush of fluid came spewing from Tifa's mouth. Yuffie could hear footsteps approaching; she wheeled herself to face the noise and defend Tifa.

"Yuffie, what are you two doing back here?"

"Cid!"

Cloud, Cid, and Vincent appeared from the shadows. Cloud's smile died when he saw Tifa on the ground.

"What happened?"

"There were two men and, and… Tifa was cut with a poisoned blade and I don't have anything to fix it and I would have come to get you but I didn't want to leave her here by herself without anyone to help her and I'm sorry and you're probably really mad because I was supposed to take care of her for you or something but I just couldn't because she was trying to save me and it's my fault and, and, and…"

Yuffie broke down into uncontrollable weeping. Cloud reached his hand out to her and squeezed her arm.

"Not your fault, Yuffie. Cid, give me an Antidote."

Cid slung the pack from his back and began shuffling his arm around inside. He checked it five times before he opened his mouth.

"We don't have one."

xxxxxxxxxx

_She was very little when she first saw him; she was spying on the neighbors through her bedroom window and she saw a fluff of bright blonde hair. He was a cute little boy with a goofy smile and she liked him right away._

"_Mom, can I go play? Please, please, please?"_

"_Of course, but remember your piano lesson!"_

_She ran down the stairs and out the front door. She stopped when she reached the sidewalk. He had looked over just in time to see her coming. He lifted a little hand and waved. She giggled and walked over to him._

"_My name's Tifa, what's yours?"_

"_Cloud."_

"_Do you want to play with me?"_

_He glanced over at his mom, who had been watching the two of them. She was smiling and gave him a nod of approval._

"_Yeah! Let's play!"_

"_What do you want to do?" she asked._

"_Anything. Everything. I want to do everything with you."_

_She smiled and took his hand._

"_Come on!"_

_They ran through the streets and she showed him where the school was, her favorite bakery, the flower shop, the inn, the mansion, the roads that lead to the mountains. She told him which houses belonged to the friendly people and who to stay away from. She showed him where she stashed her favorite toys, the ones that her parents thought she was too old for. She showed him her favorite trees and fields and flowers. They walked the entire village hand in hand, waving at the people._

"_This is my new friend, Cloud!" she would proudly exclaim._

_Every morning she woke up and ran to his front door. She would knock four times and his mother would let her in. He was always awake and waiting for her at the table. Once he realized she would come over every day, he would fix two bowls of cereal and pour her a glass of grapefruit juice because he knew it was her favorite. Rain, snow, sick, tired, Tifa showed up every day. When the two came down with the chicken pox at the same time, Mrs. Strife set up a bed of blankets on the floor in front of the fire and the two of them would lay next to each other all day talking and sleeping._

_Every afternoon at 3:00, Cloud and Tifa would appear in the parlor of her house. Cloud would sit and watch as Tifa's mother taught her how to play the piano. He would watch her little fingers stretch over the keys and a little crease would form in between her eyebrows as she concentrated. He came to learn that little crease meant that she was frustrated, just like he came to learn that she was sick when her cheeks were flushed and tired when her eyes darkened into more of a coffee color. He knew more about her than he knew about himself._

_It was a rainy August morning and she didn't show up. Mrs. Strife kept glancing through the living room window._

"_Oh no," she whispered._

_There was a light knock on the door and Cloud watched his mother run to open it._

"_I'm sorry to bother you, but do you think you could step outside so we can talk?"_

_Cloud knew that it was Tifa's dad and all his blood turned cold. Was she hurt? Was she in trouble? Was she okay? And then he saw her little face as she walked into the house. Her eyes were red and puffy and her skin was white as snow. She looked like anyone could break her with a touch of their finger. She didn't say anything, but instead walked right over to him. Without even thinking, he opened his arms to her and held her while she cried for what was probably the hundredth time that morning. He didn't know what happened and he didn't ask; he knew it was bad and that saying out loud would only make her hurt more. Later, while Tifa was napping, Cloud's mother motioned for him to come to her._

"_Cloud, Mrs. Lockheart passed away. Do you know what that means?"_

"_It means she died."_

"_Yes, and Tifa is going to stay with us for a few days while her daddy takes care of some stuff, okay? She's going to be very sad for awhile."_

"_Then I'll just have to take care of her."_

_xxxxxxxxxx_

"Cloud, we can't just leave everyone else in here. This place is dangerous."

"I have to help her, Cid. That is the only thing that matters right now."

Tifa lay unconscious in Cloud's arms. He turned to walk back to the mouth of the cave.

"Wait for two seconds, will you? What if someone has Poisona?"

"It won't matter."

Everyone turned to Vincent.

"What?" said Cloud.

"It won't matter. That isn't regular poison. It's mutated to attack mako cells and nothing you give her will help."

"I can't just stand here and let her die, Vincent. What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know."

"Find the others. Tell them to get the hell out of here. I'm going back to Nibelheim and I'm going to fix her."

"Cloud –"

"I'm going."

He turned and walked as fast as he could to get to the mouth of the cave. He paused only to listen for her heartbeat and then he continued through the mountains.

xxxxxxxxxx

_Tifa stayed with Cloud for two weeks straight. She barely talked, never smiled or laughed, and walked around the small house as if she were a ghost. Cloud's eyes constantly stung with tears, his heart aching to watch his best friend hurt so much. Every night, she would curl her little body up next to his and when she thought he was asleep, she would shake with sobs. He would wrap his little arms around her and open his mouth to comfort her, but there seemed to be no words that would do the trick. She would cry herself to sleep and Cloud would lie awake and watch her, making sure that she was resting peacefully. On the last night of her stay, she opened her little mouth and said,_

"_Cloud, do you love me?"_

_He felt his skin catch on fire._

"_Um, what?"_

"_I mean, if I died, would you miss me?"_

"_Of course, Tifa. You're my best friend."_

"_And would you do anything for me?"_

"_Anything."_

"_Okay. Good."_

"_Why?"_

_She snuggled into the blankets and closed her eyes._

"_Tifa! Tifa, why?"_

"_Because I'm going to need your help."_

"_Doing what?"_

"_Finding my mom."_

_He didn't understand what she meant and her words scared him, honestly, but he did love her and she was his best friend, so he would do whatever she asked. He felt her rustle in the morning and he followed her out of bed, out of the house, down the path, to the bridge that crossed over to the mountain._

"_I know that she's here, Cloud. She wouldn't leave me, right? I mean, she wouldn't die and not say good-bye or anything? So she must be here, hiding! Maybe she's just hiding…"_

"_Tifa, I don't think – ."_

"_Are you coming or not?"_

_She crossed her arms and began to stomp her way across the bridge._

"_Tifa! Be careful! It's not safe! It's not – "_

_He heard her scream as the ropes began snapping. He ran towards her as fast as he could, but it was too late for the both of them. As his arm reached out to grab her and pull her to safety, she fell. She grabbed his hand and he descended with her. The last thing he remembered was the sound of her saying she was sorry and her red, red blood on his hands._

_xxxxxxxxxx_

He carried her through the night; when the sun started peeking over the mountains, he stopped. He pulled out his canteen of water and held it to her lips. Her skin was cold, but she was breathing and her heart was beating faintly. She was very much unconscious and he was terrified of how little time he had to save her. He lifted her back into his arms and continued on his way to the village. He wasn't sure what exactly would be the safest way to get what he needed. He didn't want her to wake up back in the laboratory that he knew she despised so much, but he didn't want to keep leaving her to get supplies. He made up his mind to take her to her own house when something rustled to his left. He turned in time to see Hojo emerge from behind the bushes. His glasses were shattered and both of his eyes were swollen with bruises. Cloud wasn't sure if killing him would necessarily be a disservice; it would be more of a favor from the looks of him.

"I don't have time for you," Cloud growled.

"Please, listen."

"I don't have –"

"I can help you. Listen, the men who attacked her… They are three of my experiments, injected with Jenova cells. They are very strong, but they are no match for a team like yours. They read your files – you, Tifa, Vincent, Yuffie, everything that I have about all of you. They are working for… for Sephiroth. The materia that she was infected with, it – "

"It's attacking her mako cells, I understand that. I need to fix her now."

"It's not going to be easy, Cloud. She may never forgive you for what you have to do."

"I can't lose her. I can't watch her die, Hojo. Just help me."

He nixed going to Tifa's and instead walked straight to the mansion. He descended the stairs behind the bookcase and set the cold body in his arms on the operating table. He strapped her body down, knowing full well that the pain she was going to experience would cause her to shake violently.

"I'm so sorry, Tifa," he whispered. "But I need you to get better, okay? I need you…"

He swept his fingers down her cheek and lightly pressed his lips to hers.

"Okay, Hojo. Let's do it."

The professor walked in wheeling two I.V. machines behind him.

"Cloud, you understand that the blood I have to use is extremely concentrated with mako? It is very strong; it has to be to be able to fight the poison. This will be worse for her than before."

"Please, just stop. Just save her, okay?"

Hojo inserted an empty I.V. into her arm and began draining the poisoned blood from her system.

"We'll wait about five minutes and then we'll begin pumping in the new blood, alright? That should be plenty of time to get rid of the poison and she won't die of blood loss."

"Why are you helping us? I mean, now. Why this change of heart, Hojo?"

"Tifa kicked my ass the last time you were in here. I can't blame her; I've been a real bastard. But there has always been something different about the four of you – Tifa, Zack, Vincent, and yourself. I never realized it until my new experiments came to fruition. Their hearts were so cold and their eyes were so empty. They have no remorse or conscience and they were regular people, just like you. When Sephiroth came to meet them, they were mesmerized by his power and eager to learn from him. They were sold into darkness with absolutely no regard for the light. I am not a good man, Cloud Strife. I am not brave or moral or even nice, but I am not evil. I did not even realize the darkness I am responsible for until Kadoj, Loz, and Yazoo ran away from here. You see, Tifa beat the shit out of me because I deserved it, but those three tortured me simply because they could. It dawned on me that had Tifa wanted to, she could have prolonged my pain for hours or even days. You, too, have always had that capability. You know, when she first woke up from her surgery, she asked about Zack. She said nothing about herself and she only fought when she felt threatened. She didn't wake up bloodthirsty or maniacal; she woke up as herself, only much, much stronger. It wasn't until Zack woke up and asked to see her that it dawned on me that perhaps mako is not responsible for the darkness that dwells within those that it inhabits. I thought maybe I am not the reason that Sephiroth is the way he is, maybe the evil that seems to possess the hearts of the mako-induced is a result of who they are. I was wrong, though. As much as I would like to believe that most of my creations are evil because they were born that way, it is not the case. They are evil because their hearts cannot handle the great power that comes with mako energy. It corrupts them and they compromise themselves to feel control. You are the exceptions and it is because you realized that it is darkness that flows inside of you, not greatness, not a divine gift, but monster cells that try to seduce you into hell. I am sorrier than I can ever say for the trouble that I have caused you. I know that it is worth dirt to you and that I can never fix what I have done, but as long as you know that I recognize what I have done, that will be enough for me. You are the most pure of heart persons that I have ever come into contact with and I almost ruined it. There is such little light left in this world and who do I think I am? What right have I to be the one to put it out? I am helping you because I have no doubt that you and your friends will be the ones to restore goodness in this world. I am helping you save her because I know that you can't do this without her. I am helping you because I am trying to make up for everything I have done and if a blood transfusion is the least I can do, damn it, I'll do it."

Cloud sat in astonished silence. He stretched his hand out to the professor; Hojo took it and shook as a few tears slid down his cheeks.

"I am sorry, Cloud, for everything you have lost."

All Cloud could do was give a slight nod of his head.

"She should be ready now."

Cloud took one last look at Tifa's calm exterior. He squeezed her hand.

"I love you, Tifa. I'm so sorry."

He watched as Hojo inserted the second I.V. into her other arm. The dark blood began to creep through the tube. He closed his eyes as it reached her vein. Everything was silent except the pounding of their hearts as they waited. After a few minutes, Tifa's body began to tremble. Cloud did not want to imagine the pain that this woman was experiencing. He so desperately wanted to wrap her up in his arms and hold her until it was over.

"Hojo, what's happening to her?"

"I don't know, Cloud. My best guess is that the new mako cells are fighting the mutation that is attacking the old mako cells."

"Is it working?"

"How am I supposed to answer that, Cloud?"

After that they did not speak, but glued all of their attention to Tifa's shaking body. She was beginning to sweat and blood vessels were beginning to pop all over her body. She opened her mouth and shrieked from the top of her lungs. She screamed and screamed and screamed and Cloud cried and cried and cried. It wasn't until the blood draining turned dark red that Hojo said it was okay to take out the I.V. They did so carefully as to not cause damage to Tifa's veins. Hojo wiped the blood from her arms and wrapped the small injection holes with bandages. Tifa's screams had reduced to moans and she would only jerk every few minutes. She had yet to open her eyes and Cloud feared the moment that she would. He didn't want to explain that he had brought her back here to her own personal hell, that he had allowed Hojo to inject her with mako, that she would feel worse than before because of him, and that this was his entire fault. He didn't know if she would want to speak to him ever again or look at him.

"Why don't you carry her home? Let her sleep in her own bed. She'll be more comfortable and she won't have to wake up down here."

"Thank you."

Cloud unbuckled her from the table and lifted her body into his arms once more. He exited the mansion and made his way to her house. As he passed his own, he got an idea. He walked to his front door and found it unlocked. He opened it and set Tifa on the couch as he arranged some pillows and blankets on the floor in front of the fire place.

"Just like when we had the chicken pox, Teef," he smiled.

He moved her onto the floor and covered her with a blanket. The wind outside was picking up and the sky looked like it was ready to storm. Something caught his eye and when he turned back to the window, he saw figures moving on the path from the mountain.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit," he whispered.

There were only three, so it wasn't his party. Or was it? They were too far away, even for his improved vision. His eyes shot over to Tifa, so completely defenseless. He could fight three men, but he couldn't do while trying to defend someone. There was no hope of making a run for it, either.

"What are we going to do?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

Cloud yelped and spun around.

"YUFFIE. YUFFIE, THAT WAS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING HUMOROUS. I SHOULD KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND."

The ninja giggled.

"I'm much stealthier now. Vampire powers have some really great perks," she laughed. Her smile vanished when her eyes fell on Tifa. "How is she?"

"I'm not sure yet."

Yuffie's eyes filled with tears. She averted her eyes from Cloud's gaze and spoke softly.

"Those are the others, don't worry. We all made it safely from the mountains. We took separate paths and kept our trackers on. Everything went smoothly. No one else is hurt."

"This isn't your fault, Yuffie."

"If it's alright with you, I think we'll all stay at Tifa's, okay?"

"That's probably best. There's more room there. Plus, when Tifa finally wakes up, she'll be in quite the mood," he laughed.

Hearing him joke softened Yuffie up; she smiled and gave him a small hug.

"Take care of her, Strife. And take care of yourself, too. We're not far if you need anything."

He kissed her cheek and watched as she left through the window.

"I have a front door!" he called after her.

He walked over to the window and locked it. He went through the whole house doing the same thing. He set some water on the stove to boil and took inventory of the pantry, refrigerator, and cabinets. He pulled out some potatoes, washed them, and set them to boil. Every few moments, he would glance back at the woman on his floor. She was so still it was almost scary, but he could hear her heart beating a million miles a minute and that's all that mattered to him. The rain started soon after he finished making dinner. It was light at first, but it only took a few moments for it to begin pouring. Thunder flashed across the sky and when the lightning struck, Tifa stirred.

"Cloud? Cloud? CLOUD?" she screamed.

"What? What? Honey, I'm right here. What's the matter?"

She took a moment to sit up and look around her. She rubbed her arms and noticed the bandages. Cloud winced.

"What happened? Why are my arms so sore?"

"What do you remember?"

"I was sick… I was really sick. From poison, right? I was poisoned and I was dying and you picked me up and carried me…"

"I took you back to Nibelheim. I – I had to. I had to save you, Tifa. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

He choked those words out and began to cry. Tifa sat very confused for a moment before she rose and went to comfort him.

"Don't cry, silly. There's nothing to be sorry for."

She wrapped her arms around him and began to hum softly.

"I – I took you to Hojo, Tifa. I had to – ."

"I know."

"Wha- what?"

"Cloud, I know what you had to do, so please believe me when I say that there is nothing to be sorry for. I feel fine."

"But – "

"Hush. Grab me a cup of tea and come lay down here with me. I'll tell you what happened."

He grabbed two mugs and nestled in next to her.

xxxxxxxxxx

_I woke up in a very familiar field of flowers with two very familiar faces leaning over me._

"_How many more times are you going to get in trouble, Teef? Watching over you is a full-time job! It's lucky that we ain't got anything better to do!"_

"_Oh, Zack, stop," Aerith giggled._

_My eyes shot open and I knew where I was. I had been there with them before. Cloud, they are so beautiful now. They have no scars; they have no worry on their face…_

"_Why am I here?"_

"_You're dying."_

_I couldn't feel any part of my body; I froze. All I could think about was you and Marlene and Denzel, I knew that Yuffie would blame herself and I just couldn't accept that it was over._

"_Breathe, Tifa. I said you're dying, I didn't say that you're dead," Zack shook his head._

"_Cloud is working very hard to save you, Tifa."_

_And they showed me how you carried my body through the mountains and how you struggled with what to do and I heard everything that Hojo said._

"_Can I go back now? Now that I'm better?"_

"_You don't want to go back yet…"_

"_How do you know what I want, Zack Fair?"_

"_Fine."_

"_Zack, don't. She doesn't know…"_

"_Nope. Aerith, she's totally asking for it. I can't just pass up this opportunity to prove that I'm right and she's wrong! Do you know how many times this happened when we were alive? None! Zero times, Aerith! I am taking this one chance!"_

_I watched Aerith crack a smile and roll her eyes._

"_Sorry, Teef. You'll see what he means."_

_And then everything was on fire and I felt like I couldn't breathe and I was screaming as loud as I could and it hurt. It felt like eternity until Zack pulled me back into the field._

"_Told you so."_

"_You jackass."_

_Zack laughed and I smiled._

"_I miss you. Both of you."_

"_We know, honey," Aerith said with a small smile. "We're always here, though. Remember that; we're always looking out for you. We hear everything you say to us."_

_I smiled._

"_Yeah, and when Cloud finally grows some balls and bangs you, we'll know. AND WE'LL BE WATCHING."_

_Aerith hit him on the arm and I fell over giggling._

"_Speaking of Cloud, you better get back to him before he loses his mind. Take care of him, Tifa; don't let him work himself too hard, okay? Make him rest before you head back through the mountains," Zack said._

"_I love you, Zack. I love you, Aerith."_

"_We love you, too."_

xxxxxxxxxx

Mountain storms were nothing to take lightly. The rain slammed against the windows and wind violently shook the house. Even with mako coursing through their veins, they still felt a little chilled.

"I wonder how everyone is holding up," Tifa said, casting a worried look out the window.

"I'm sure they're fine."

Tifa nodded, refilled her cup, and returned to her seat next to Cloud. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed the side of her head. A small smile crept to her lips and he smiled at the sight. They sat for a long time without speaking.

"So… Yuffie's a vampire now?"

"Where have you been, Strife? That happened ages ago!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to think of something to talk about."

"You're unbelievable. Yes, Yuffie's a vampire."

"Do you know how Vincent changed her?"

"I'm assuming he bit her, right? Isn't that how that works?"

Cloud stifled a giggle and shook his head.

"What? Then how?"

"I don't think I can tell you."

"Cloud!"

"It's not for such innocent ears…"

"You have to tell me! You brought it up!"

Cloud shook his head and bit his lips to keep from laughing. Tifa tackled him and straddled his hips as she held down his arms.

"You better tell me!"

"Or what?"

Tifa moved her hands from his arms and placed them on his stomach. She tickled him until he was begging for mercy and only when tears rolled down his cheeks did she stop.

"You're the devil."

"Tell me something I don't know," she teased.

She rolled off of him and snuggled up to his side.

"They had sex."

"Hmmm?"

"They had sex. That's how Vincent changed her!"

"You're kidding!" Tifa gasped.

"Nope."

"I'm going to KILL him."

"It was her choice, Teef."

"I can't believe she lost her virginity before I did," Tifa sighed.

Cloud laughed so hard, he snorted.

"Does it matter?"

"No, but still…"

He kissed her forehead.

"I told you before, I don't want to sleep with you and then die. It's not fair to you or me."

"I wasn't asking you to…" Tifa trailed off, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"I know, I just… I don't… know…"

Glass shattered onto the kitchen floor and the couple were on their feet in the same second. A small figure climbed through the window.

"Sorry about the glass, Cloud, but I'm sure you'll forgive me. We don't have a lot of time. Kadoj and his brothers are on their way into town. Red was keeping watch and he spotted them. He's on his way back to town now. They'll be here within fifteen minutes."

Cloud stood stone still while he digested the information.

"We need to hide."

"What?" the girls said in unison.

"We need to hide. We can't fight in this weather, Tifa is weak, and we can't afford to lose part of our party to stay with her. We need to get somewhere that they won't find us and stay there until the storm blows over."

"No."

Cloud's eyes locked on Tifa.

"What?"

"I said no. We can't run from them. We need to get them out of our way. We have ten minutes to gear up. Get the others ready. We'll be waiting for them when they arrive. Listen to me, Yuffie, and go."

"Tifa, I don't like this."

"We can't keep running."

"You're right."

Tifa walked over to her pack and pulled out her clothes, armor, and boots.

"Look away."

"You're kidding me."

"I said look away."

Cloud turned his back, but could see her reflection in the glass of the front window. He saw her flawless ivory skin and how it glowed in the light of the fire. She slipped her bra up her arms and fastened it. It was black and lacy and Cloud groaned inside his head. She slid a white tank top over her perfect body and zipped her leather vest over it. She stepped into a pair of tight, black pants. They were a material similar to leather, but stronger. She buttoned them and pulled her gloves onto her hands. He remembered wanting to buy her new ones and he would the first chance he got. The ones she wore were crusty with her own blood and torn in a few places. She put on socks and laced her boots.

"Okay, ready."

"You're beautiful."

"Shut up and change."

"Look away."

"You're kidding."

"It's only fair."

xxxxxxxxxx

The rain was cold, made only worse by the presence of the wind. Lightning cracked the black night and Tifa could see Cloud's eyes locked on her. She knew he hated having her out in the battlefield, but he was just going to have to deal. She would not sit by and watch as her friends fought a battle she could handle. Besides, this was personal; Tifa had almost lost her life because of Kadaj and she was set on revenge. Lightning struck again and she could see the figures of her friends positioned for battle. She said a silent prayer to Aerith and Zack that everyone would make it out of this okay. Although they were only up against three others, they were strong and fast and… scary. Tifa closed her eyes and pictured their muscular bodies, remembered the way they moved in combat, and tried with all her might to think of something that might be of use to her team. In the distance, she heard Red's howl – the signal for the coming of their enemy. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cloud tense.

"They're coming," Vincent shouted over the thunder.

Cid nodded his head from his spot on the roof, next to Barrett. Yuffie tightened her grip on her shuriken and fastened her eyes on Vincent.

"Love you," he mouthed.

Three figures appeared on the road ahead.

"Someone spoiled the surprise!" Kadoj whined.

"Oh well," Yazoo murmured.

And it started so fast that it took Tifa a moment to realize it was happening. She felt herself fly back as Cloud threw her behind him. She heard the screech of his blade slide against Kadaj's. She realized she was at a disadvantage; the mud was not going to be her friend, she was not going to be as fast as she should be. Barrett's bullets seemed to have no effect on the tough skin of the opponent and he was cursing with every failed attempt of damage. Tifa felt a small body land to her right.

"Cait? Cait, are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, Teef. Get busy, will ya?"

"Right."

Tifa looked up at the battlefield. Cloud was dead set on taking care of Kadaj himself and there was no doubt in her mind that it was because of the poison that almost consumed her. It terrified her that he was so close to such a dangerous weapon, but she had faith in his ability and worrying wasn't going to help anyone. Kadoj knocked Cloud thirty feet away with a kick to the chest. Tifa's blood pumped as her legs carried her quickly to Cloud's unmoving body.

"Cloud, get up. Please get up."

She wheeled her body around when her ears picked up the approach of Kadaj. He came at her, sword raised. She raised her leg and knocked his sword from his hand with a kick to the wrist. She grabbed that same arm and twisted until his whole body flipped. She swung her leg over him and let go of his arm. She broke his nose with her first hit, an uppercut to the jaw was her second move, and she left him with a swollen right eye with her third. A massive arm wrapped around her torso and pain exploded in her head as it smacked into a brick wall.

"Not my brother," Loz shouted.

He was hurdling towards her and she knew that she had no chance of gaining her footing before he reached her. Her eyesight was blurry with pain and she could feel the scrapes on her shoulders bleeding. She heard him cry out in agony and fall to his knees. His arms reached for a spot in his back that he couldn't quite reach. And then Yuffie was there, pulling a bloody shuriken from his back. Tifa rose to her feet and silenced his cries with a quick snap of his neck. The girls stared at his lifeless body for a few moments and then looked up at one another. They wore guilt like a thick blanket.

"We had to do it, right?"

Tifa simply nodded, not trusting the lump in her throat. The sound of Yazoo's voice pulled their attention elsewhere.

"LOZ! Come join the fun, again, brother!" he said, smiling. The girls watched Cid's body crumble as Yazoo loosened his grip on his throat. "LOZ! LOZ!"

Yuffie realized that they had made themselves the number one target now. They were the first to take out a member of the opposing team and they would be the first ones to die.

"Tifa, run."

Tifa grabbed Yuffie's hand and they ran together down the street until they found an alley. Tifa vaulted Yuffie up onto the roof, took a few steps back, and ran up the wall to join her. They stood still and listened. It was hard to hear if anyone was approaching over the sound of the rain.

"Can you see anything?" Yuffie whispered.

Tifa shook her head. She couldn't even make out the figures fighting only a few blocks away.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Yuff. Let's start with going back. Stay on the roof, but stay low, you hear me? It'll be easier to sense someone coming for us if we're up here, but we don't want to draw attention. If you hear anything or see anything, squeeze my arm."

Yuffie nodded and they crept along silently. As they drew nearer and nearer to the battle, they could see that no one was after them because their party was busy making sure that any exit point was defended. Tifa smiled at the sight of Cloud in one piece with nothing but a few scrapes and bruises. Behind her, Yuffie yelped.

"Shhhhh."

Vincent held his hand over Yuffie's mouth to silence her.

"It's me. I've been worried sick about you," he whispered.

"We're fine, Vincent. We took out Loz and we ran when Yazoo saw us," Tifa replied.

"He isn't happy with you. I'm not sure if Kadaj is aware of what happened. Cid is in critical condition; he's bleeding profusely but refuses to quit. I hope one of you has a high potion or something or he's in trouble. He'll need a stitch, that's for sure. Cait is unconscious, but safe and alive. He took a lot of damage for such a small body. Barrett is pissed as hell, but what's new? Their skin is hard and it reflects bullets –"

"That doesn't make sense," Yuffie interrupted.

"What? Why?"

"I took down Loz with my shuriken. It can't be their skin, it must be some kind of armor."

"Where did you get him?"

"The back."

Vincent rose and aimed Death Penalty. He fired a bullet straight into Yazoo's left shoulder. They heard him cry out and crumple.

"BARRETT, SHOOT THEM IN THE BACK," Vincent roared.

"Well, now that our position has been compromised, we might as well return to the battle," Yuffie teased.

But Tifa was already on the ground, flying towards Kadaj. She slammed her body into his as he was raising his blade over Cloud's helpless body. They hit the ground and slid through the mud; she could feel him twist underneath her to attack so she did the only thing she could think of – she twisted her head and bit his arm so hard, he dropped his weapon. He screamed and she spat his blood from her mouth. He grabbed her throat and held her up off the ground. Images of Zack and the lab flooded her memory and vomit rose up in her throat at the thought of someone else dying to save her. She could feel herself falling limp and she struggled to break free. Shots rang out and Tifa felt the fingers around her throat slacken. She fell into the mud and coughed as her lungs desperately took in oxygen. Warm familiar arms found her and pulled her up. As she stood she saw Barrett fire an entire round into the already dead Kadaj's back.

"Jus' to be safe. Can't have him tryna hurt my girl again," Barrett said, gruffly.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she opened her mouth to say thank you, but was quickly distracted by the man at her side.

"Let me see your throat."

"Calm down, Cloud. I'm fine."

"Let me see it."

"You're not even a doctor," she teased.

He traced his fingers along the finger-shaped bruises on her throat and she quickly brushed them away.

"HEY, ASSHOLES. THERE IS ONE MORE LEFT AND WE'D REALLY APPRECIATE SOME HELP. OR YOU CAN STAND AROUND LIKE DICKHEADS," Cid bellowed.

Cloud and Tifa turned in time to watch as Yazoo mercilessly shot at Yuffie. As strong and agile as she was, she would not be able to keep dodging for much longer. Tifa moved to her defense, but Cloud snatched her arm and pulled her back.

"Barrett, try to get around to his back, now. Tifa, I'll boost you up onto the roof and if you see an opportunity to blind-side him, then do it. I trust you not to get yourself killed. I'm going to grab Cid before he takes any more damage. Take care of yourself," he kissed her forehead and lifted her onto the nearest ledge.

She jumped from roof to roof, trying to catch up to Yuffie. Barrett was having a hard time trying to find his way around in the dark. Tifa could hear Cid swearing up a storm, so Cloud must have gotten a hold of him. Tifa assumed that Red was protecting Cait, so where the hell was Vincent? Tifa watched as Yuffie began to stumble and losing her footing would be her downfall. Tifa had to get down there and it had to be now. She jumped from the roof and landed not three feet behind Yazoo; her presence did not seem to matter to him. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and connected his head with her knee. She grabbed his arm and brought her foot up to snap the bones. He screamed in agony and tried to fight back, but Tifa released him only to deliver a roundhouse kick that brought him to the ground. She was gently pushed out of the way and she was grateful not to have to take two lives in one night. Vincent stood before her now and she could tell that he was struggling to remain in control of himself.

"I should make you suffer. I should break every bone in your body until you beg me to kill you because death would be better than pain. You have tried to take the single most important thing from me, the entire reason for my existence, the sun, the moon, the stars, and you treated it like nothing. To kill her is to kill me and to threaten her is to threaten me. And you want to know something? I don't take kindly to threats."

Wings exploded from Vincent's back and as he opened his mouth to let out a demonic screech, Tifa – for the first time – saw fangs grow until they hung like icicles. This creature grabbed a trembling Yazoo, who was begging for mercy, and flew into the darkness, towards the mountains.

"I don't know if I should be scared or turned on."

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you, Yuffie?"

"Gaia, Cid, I don't know. I'm a young girl, I can't help it."

"I guess that's that, then. We all made it," Barrett said.

"Barely," huffed Cid.

"Oh, that's right, macho man. You got banged up pretty bad," Yuffie teased.

"Saving your ass, miss! You might say thanks!" Cid scoffed.

"Thank you, Cid," Yuffie said, walking over to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, shucks – I mean, that's right! Don't make me hafta do it again!" Cid stammered, blush evident even in the dark.

"Let's break into the inn and set him up on a big bed, so there's room to take care of him," Tifa suggested.

She glanced around, having not seen or heard Cloud. She saw him standing at a bit of a distance from the group. When he caught her eye, he nodded.

"Good idea, Teef. Let's get going," he said.

xxxxxxxxxx

They were alone in a room on the third floor. Yuffie had taken the room at the other end of the hall with everyone else spread out in rooms on the second floor. There was a lantern lit, casting strange shadows on all the walls.

"Alright, Strife, let me see the damage. Take off your shirt, I've got this jar of salve ready," Tifa joked.

He did as she told him without a word. He'd hardly spoken to her at all since the end of the battle and she could tell something was bothering him. She took in the sight of his almost raw back and choked back a gasp.

"Cloud, I think we should run water over this first; it's pretty bad."

He got up and went to the bathroom. He closed the door and she could hear the rustle of his pants coming off.

"Hey, don't turn on the hot –"

She heard him yelp in pain and she ran to the door. She cupped a hand over her eyes to keep from peeking at his naked body and turned the water to cool.

"Just stand under this water for a few minutes. Don't use any soap, it might irritate it and an infection is what we're trying to avoid."

"Yes, ma'am."

He emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later in only his boxers.

"You tease."

He just rolled his eyes and took his place sitting at the edge of the bed. Tifa scooped a handful of salve and began gently smearing it across his back. It had an icy feel and immediately helped to alleviate the throbbing of Cloud's skin. He felt her fingers go still against his back and he turned to see if something was wrong. Tears were fighting to break from her beautiful wine eyes.

"Tifa, what's the matter? Are you in pain? What's wrong?" he asked, lifting her chin.

"Why are you mad at me?"

The question completely took him by surprise. Why was he mad at her? He wasn't mad at her! And then he realized that she had taken his silence as anger instead of…

"Tifa, I am in no way mad at you, you hear me? I am so completely and utterly thankful that you are sitting here with me. I have spent the last year of my life in fear that I am going to lose you – permanently. I am so afraid that you are going to go into a darkness that I can't pull you out of. But tonight was the first time that I felt that… that you might actually die and I would be there to watch it and I wouldn't have saved you. When you were poisoned, I knew there was something I could do to save you. And when you were kidnapped, I knew that I could break you free. But tonight, you were on your own and I knew that if a bullet struck your heart or a sword sliced you in two… I can't save you from that, Tifa, and it terrified me to the point that I was practically useless. I saw Kadaj choking you and if Barrett hadn't gotten to you, you would have been gone. I couldn't have saved you and I am so sorry for that. You should have been able to trust that I would come to your rescue, but when you needed me, I wasn't there and I am so, so sorry, Tifa. I'm not mad at you; I'm mad at myself."

Tears were falling from his beautiful eyes and Tifa couldn't think of anything to say so she just set her hands carefully on his shoulders and kissed him. She tried to put every ounce of love that she had for him in her lips so that maybe he could feel just how wonderful she thought he was. He was always so hard on himself.

"I love you, Cloud. You didn't wrong me, you know that? And you know what I really need from you right now?"

"What's that?"

"I need you to rub this salve on my shoulders," she smiled.


	6. Chapter Six

"So what? We're just going to let Sephiroth walk free? We're not going to do anything?!" Barrett bellowed.

Tifa sat with her head in Cloud's lap. When she spoke, her voice was faint.

"Barrett, I love you. And I want to keep this world safe for Marlene and Denzel as much as you do. But I am so tired. I have no fight left in me. I think it would be best for us to go home, don't you? Rest. Train. Come up with a game plan."

"But… but that bastard…"

"I miss my kids, Barrett."

Cid and Barrett reluctantly relented to the idea of returning to Midgar. The group decided that it would be best for everyone to stay in the same town together; if anything ever went wrong, at least they knew the team would be close by. Yuffie and Vincent began renting a small apartment; Cid build a decent-sized shed close to the bar for Cait Sith and Red to sleep in; Cid himself decided to stay at the inn; Barrett returned to his own place; and of course Tifa and Cloud returned to the bar. As they walked in the door, tears welled up in Tifa's eyes.

"I didn't think I would ever see this place again, you know?"

Cloud kissed her forehead.

"Why don't you put your stuff down and take a nap? I'll put it away for you and we can pick up the kids for dinner?"

Tifa smiled and nodded. She went up the stairs and instantly fell asleep. Cloud unzipped her bags and drew out the dirty, blood-stained shirts she had all but destroyed.

"That girl," he whispered under his breath with a smile. "She can do anything."

He folded the clothes back up and put them in a box at the top of the closet in the hall. He walked into their room, kissed her forehead, and left the bar; he was sure to lock the door behind him. He whistled and Red was at his side in less than a second.

"I'm going to go run a quick errand; keep your eye on Teef, okay?"

Cloud set out down the road, walking with a quickened pace. He hated to leave her so soon, but he wanted to do something special for her. He reached his destination within twenty minutes. He opened the door to the shop and the keeper all but fainted.

"Cloud Strife!" he exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since you tried on that dress!"

Cloud laughed and shook the man's hand.

"Good to see you, too, sir. I'm here to do my lovely woman a favor. You see, she's in desperate need of some new clothes, preferably a durable fabric."

The shopkeeper was extraordinarily kind and understanding. Cloud left with two dozen new shirts - Tifa's favorite kind of tank top, v-necks, long sleeved shirts, leather vests - all infused with Shield Materia. He purchased two new pairs of her favorite kind of shorts, a few new pairs of long pants made of a light but sturdy material.

As he went to pay, the shopkeeper shook his head and said, "No, no, good man. We know what you have been doing for this city and many tales of a raven-haired beauty have traveled back to this shop. I know that Tifa has risked so much to keep her children safe and in that she has kept my child safe. I also know that you almost lost her many times and to lose such a woman would be a great loss for this world. You take these clothes to her and you keep her safe. And here, take this as well."

He handed Cloud a thin, red ribbon.

"Wrap this around her arm and it will protect her from any ailment."

Cloud could not speak to say thank you. The man saw the tears in his eyes, smiled, and took Cloud's hand.

"The world is not lost yet, Mr. Strife. There is still kindness. There is still kindness because there is still hope and I have hope because the young woman you came here for has given it to me. I have never seen such a team as yours, but I will support you. Take these garments and you come back whenever you need something."

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I wish I knew how to express how incredibly grateful I am to you! I just.. I -"

"You have done enough for me. Now go!"

When Cloud returned to the bar, he found Tifa sitting with a cup of coffee in a back booth.

"You're awake! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be gone when you woke up!"

"No worries, silly. We're home now; there's no reason to worry about me being alone!"

She stood and took the bags from him.

"What's this?!"

"I thought I would get you some new battle gear… When I went to put your things away, I noticed how torn up all of your clothes got. I just wanted you to be safe… and maybe a little spoiled," he said.

Tifa grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his lips to hers.

"Thank you, Cloud. They're beautiful."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her in his arms. It was perfect to have her with him, in their home, safe and far away from the only enemy who could tear them apart. He buried his nose in her hair and allowed himself to be happy in that moment. He would no longer run away from this woman who he had watched fight so hard to keep him with her.

"I love you, Tifa. I love you so much and I am so happy."

"I love you, too, Cloud. Let's go pick up our kids."

xxxxxxxxxx

Yuffie pranced into the kitchen.

"Weird, isn't it? To be on our own… no one around… no one trying to kill us right now…?"

Vincent chuckled.

"I must say I much prefer it, sweet one. I like having you safe."

"Will you get bored of me now that we're stuck in this domesticated life?" she teased.

"No, Yuffie," he said very seriously. "You are my sun and my moon and my stars. How could I ever even imagine a life without you in it?"

Her face was instantly flushed. She thanked him for his kind words with a kiss. Of course with the two of them, things never ended with just a kiss. As they untangled themselves from their sheets, Yuffie spoke.

"I thought maybe we could surprise Tifa and Cloud with a small party to celebrate being home, you know? Something to bring us all together for a happy occasion! A reason for all of us to be able to see the kids…."

"Hmmmm… kids. What are your thoughts on having kids, Yuff?"

"VINCENT! We are in NO condition to be even THINKING about bringing a CHILD into THIS WORLD - "

"Woah! Hey, calm down! I just meant, you know, in the future…"

Yuffie became very serious and brushed her fingers across her lover's cheek.

"Oh, honey. I don't know if there is a future with the both of us in it. Sephiroth is still out there; this fight isn't over. We may feel safe right now, but we aren't yet."

"So is that a no to kids then?" he laughed.

"For now," she teased.

The two got dressed, locked their apartment, and headed towards the bar.

"Did you already tell Barrett and Cid about the party?" Yuffie asked.

"No, why? When would I have done that, silly?"

"Well, it's just that… they're already here…."

"CID! BARRETT! WHAT'S GOING ON? IS EVERYTHING OKAY?" Vincent called out.

"COURSE IT IS, YA DUMB ASS. I JUST CAN'T WAIT TA SEE MY GIRL!" Barrett replied.

Yuffie ran up and attacked Cid with a bear hug. He grumbled but returned the favor.

"Good to see you, kid."

"We saw each other earlier, you goofy old man."

Everyone laughed. It was strange how incredibly attached they were; Yuffie hadn't realized it before but she had been tense for the few hours the team had been separated. Concern was always floating in the back of her mind. Was everyone okay? Were they alive? Kidnapped, maybe? Were they truly safe? And now seeing Cid, Barret, and now Cait and Red as they joined them on the porch of the bar was unexpectedly relieving.

"I'm just joking with you. It's really good to see you, too, Cid."

Vincent took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. She smiled up at him and thanked all of her lucky stars that she had so much love in her life.

xxxxxxxxxx

She opened her eyes to find beautiful blue.

"Creep," she whispered.

She heard his hushed giggle. Between the two of them slept Denzel and Marlene; they had created a somewhat fort out of every blanket and pillow in the house. The arms of the small children wrapped around the waists of their beloved guardians. Tifa ran her hand lightly through Marlene's hair.

"I don't think they're ever going to let us go again," she laughed. "And I don't think I want them to."

"I don't think I've ever felt happier in my life, Teef. I missed them so much. I missed this all so much."

"We missed you, too, Cloud," said a sleepy Denzel.

"Go back to sleep, son."

Tifa's heart froze for a second. Had he really just called Denzel his son? She knew that he loved her but she wasn't sure if he was ready to be serious about being a family.

"Cloud, you don't have to - "

"Tifa, I almost watched you die on numerous occasions. I held your practically lifeless body in my hands. You had to leave the children in the first place because you were taken and you were taken because I couldn't keep you safe. You know that I love you more than anyone; what you don't know is that all I have wanted since we started this stupid adventure is to be here, at home with you and our children making blanket forts and staying up late. And you know what? In the morning, I'll cook eggs and pancakes and I'll let them have chocolate milk and I want to be here when they're happy and sad and hurt. I want to threaten Marlene's first boyfriend and teach Denzel how to drive. You're my family, Teef, all of you."

"See, Denzel. I told you he'd come around," Marlene whispered.

Everyone laughed and Tifa reached over and gave Cloud's arm a squeeze. The children cuddled in closer and the family fell asleep together.

xxxxxxxxxx

A/N: Well, it has been a long time, indeed! So sorry and I will do my best to update more frequently! (As in not once a year….)


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